Systems Testing of the PLH Human-Digital Package within the Health Sector in South Africa

About this project

	South Africa
	January 2023 –December 2025
Principal Investigator	Professor Catherine Ward (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
Research Team	Cindee Bruyns (University of Cape Town), Dr Jamie Lachman (University of Oxford and University of Cape Town), Professor Lucie Cluver (University of Oxford and University of Cape Town), Professor Frances Gardner (University of Oxford).
Partners	Department of Health, Western Cape Province of South Africa; Clowns Without Borders South Africa; UNICEF South Africa.

Most (if not all) parents could benefit from some advice about parenting and keeping children safe; some may need more intensive support. This raises two questions: whether most parents can be reached; and what the optimal combination of support should be, to provide the level of support needed by each parent, in an affordable, cost-effective manner. The GPI is developing and testing digital versions of PLH programmes of varying intensity (in order from least to most intensive): ParentText, ParentApp, and ParentChat. The question now is how best to offer these to parents at the intensity they need within existing government systems.

This study will take place in five primary health care clinics in Cape Town, South Africa. These clinics serve the majority of South Africans (those without health insurance). Most parents will visit a health facility for their own healthcare, for well-baby checks, vaccinations, or for childhood illnesses, at least once a year, which offers an ideal opportunity to reach parents with support. The wide reach of the setting and the alignment with key health priorities, including preventing child maltreatment and promoting child wellbeing, make this an ideal setting in which to attempt population-wide reach of parents.