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Case Report
care, health and development
doi:10.1111/cch.12544
Abstract
Background An estimated 43% of children younger than 5 years of age are at elevated risk of
failing to achieve their human potential. In response, the World Health Organization and UNICEF
developed Care for Child Development (CCD), based on the science of child development, to
improve sensitive and responsive caregiving and promote the psychosocial development of young
children.
Methods In 2015, the World Health Organization and UNICEF identified sites where CCD has been
implemented and sustained. The sites were surveyed, and responses were followed up by phone
interviews. Project reports provided information on additional sites, and a review of published
studies was undertaken to document the effectiveness of CCD for improving child and family
outcomes, as well as its feasibility for implementation in resource-constrained communities.
Results The inventory found that CCD had been integrated into existing services in diverse sectors
Keywords
in 19 countries and 23 sites, including child survival, health, nutrition, infant day care, early
Care for Child education, family and child protection and services for children with disabilities. Published and
Development, early child
unpublished evaluations have found that CCD interventions can improve child development,
development,
intervention, nurturing growth and health, as well as responsive caregiving. It has also been reported to reduce maternal
care, parenting support, depression, a known risk factor for poor pregnancy outcomes and poor child health, growth and
responsive caregiving
development. Although CCD has expanded beyond initial implementation sites, only three countries
Correspondence: Dr Jane
reported having national policy support for integrating CCD into health or other services.
E. Lucas, Social Psycholo- Conclusions Strong interest exists in many countries to move beyond child survival to protect and
gist, Consultant in Inter-
support optimal child development. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals depend on
national Health and Child
Development, 115 Fourth children realizing their potential to build healthy and emotionally, cognitively and socially
Avenue, New York, NY competent future generations. More studies are needed to guide the integration of the CCD
10003, USA
E-mail:
approach under different conditions. Nevertheless, the time is right to provide for the scale-up of
janeelucas@gmail.com CCD as part of services for families and children.
© 2017 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd 41
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any
medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
42 J.E. Lucas et al.
From birth, an infant learns through contingent, enjoyable Development (CCD) to promote the psychosocial develop-
interactions with adults (Goldstein 1994). Inadequate nutri- ment of young children (WHO & UNICEF 2012). Evidence of
tion and frequent illness contribute to stunted growth, and the importance of integrating nutrition and stimulation, as well
growing up in an unstable environment further limits as how children learn through play and communication with a
cognitive and social potential. The seminal work of caring, responsive adult, contributed to its design (Pelto et al.
Grantham-McGregor et al. (1991) in Jamaica encouraged play 1999; Richter 2004). This paper describes CCD and its history,
and other learning activities for growth-stunted children, age its theoretical and empirical background, examples of its
9–24 months. These children had poorer cognitive and application, evidence of its effectiveness and its potential for
performance skills compared with non-stunted children of future expansion.
the same age. Weekly sessions for 2 years, conducted by
trained home visitors, improved their psychosocial develop-
ment. Children at age 24 months who had received both
The intervention
stimulation and nutrition supplementation very closely
approximated the developmental capacities of non-stunted Care for Child Development provides guidance to help
children (Grantham-McGregor et al. 1991). Follow-up studies caregivers build stronger relationships with young children
showed that, at age 22 years, children who received and solve challenges in providing nurturing care. CCD
stimulation alone or with nutrition supplementation, com- encourages responsive caregiving in building relationships
pared with controls, had higher IQ scores (Wechsler Adult between caregivers and children (Ainsworth et al. 1974). This
Intelligence Scale), attained higher grades and had better includes sensitivity to children’s movements, sounds and
general knowledge, fewer symptoms of depression and less gestures and interpreting and responding appropriately to
involvement in violent behaviour (Walker et al. 2011). They them. Responsive caregiving is the basis for protecting children
were more likely to have jobs and had 25% higher earnings against injury, recognizing and responding to illness, enriching
than controls, and they had caught up to the earnings of their learning and building trust and social relationships. The
non-stunted peers (Gertler et al. 2014). concept has been applied also to ‘responsive feeding’ (Black &
For many children, opportunities for learning at home are Aboud 2011), especially important for effective feeding of low
limited (UNICEF 2012), and many schools in resource-poor weight or ill infants.
areas do little to compensate for inadequate early stimulation. In applying CCD, counsellors ask caregivers how they play
Many already vulnerable young children are profoundly and communicate with their children, how they get their
affected also by the poor mental and physical well-being of children to smile and how they think their children are
their parents and other caregivers, who may have difficulty learning. The counselling aims to increase the time parents
responding to a young child’s needs in sensitive and responsive spend with their children and improve the quality of
ways. For example, depressed mothers are less able to provide interactions that affect learning and health. The counsellor
responsive parenting, and some of their children exhibit observes how the caregiver responds, comforts, shows love and
delayed development early in infancy, posing a risk for poor guides the child’s exploration. The counsellor uses the
neurological development (Holt & Mikati 2011), poor infant information to praise the caregiver, build the caregiver’s
growth, common childhood illness (Cozolino 2006; Rahman confidence, increase child-directed language and identify
et al. 2004; Surkan et al. 2011) and delayed language enjoyable activities that the caregiver and child can do together
development (Baydar et al. 2014). A child’s condition may at home. Central to the intervention is a set of age-appropriate
also contribute to ineffective caregiver responsiveness and developmentally appropriate recommendations on play
(Sameroff & Fiese 2000); for example, a very low birthweight and communication that guide counsellors in helping
child may be too weak to project clear signs of hunger. caregivers interact with their children. The activities promote
Children with disabilities may also present confusing cues strong emotional bonds between caregivers and children,
about their physical needs, affection and learning. Conse- enabling families to stimulate motor, cognitive, social and
quently, parents may need assistance to recognize and interpret emotional learning of children (Fig. 1). Playing with common
the behaviour of children with special needs for attention and household items (e.g. tin cups, empty containers and cooking
care. pots) can help a child learn, and even a busy caregiver can be
Building on the child survival agenda, the World Health given the motivation and confidence to talk with a child during
Organization (WHO) and UNICEF developed Care for Child feeding, bathing and other routine household tasks.
© 2017 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Child: care, health and development, 44, 1, 41--49
Care for Child Development 43
Based on methods for behaviour change (Aboud &Akhter practice in coaching caregivers interacting with their children.
2011), caregivers practice these activities with their children The duration of training and follow-up supervision depends
during the counselling session to gain confidence and on the prior training of providers, the delivery settings and the
encourage changes in their parenting behaviours. Caregivers capacity of the system. For example, most pre-service
may receive counselling individually during home visits or education of professionals and community workers allows
clinic consultations, or during parent, nutrition education or extended training and close supervision during practical
other group sessions. Sensitive and responsive caregiver sessions. These supports are more limited during in-service
capacities are encouraged and reinforced, and they are linked and on-the-job training. The delivery settings also determine
to recognizing signs of hunger and being alert to indications of the number and duration of counselling sessions. During sick
a child being sick, in discomfort or in danger. In this way, these child clinic visits, the health worker might counsel the
basic interactional skills contribute to the healthy growth and caregiver and child for only 5–10 min of the consultation
survival of young children, as well as to their physical, once or, with follow-up, twice. Integrating CCD into home
intellectual, language and emotional development. Supporting visits, parent groups, child care centres and nutrition
the implementation of the CCD intervention are a counselling rehabilitation programmes can sustain longer and more
card, training manual and videos, facilitator guides for frequent contacts.
classroom activities and hands-on practice, presentations on
its technical background and tools for monitoring and
evaluation. History
Providers in a range of sectors – health, education, nutrition,
child care, emergencies, child and social protection and other The roots of CCD are in the WHO and UNICEF strategy
family services – can learn the CCD counselling approach Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI), a
through an interactive course. Training includes hands-on syndromic approach designed to address the common causes
Figure 1. Care for Child Development: recommendations for play and communication activities. [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]
© 2017 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Child: care, health and development, 44, 1, 41--49
44 J.E. Lucas et al.
of childhood mortality in low-income and middle-income clinics, home visits, parent groups and other settings. In 2014,
countries (Bryce et al. 2004). There was concern that focusing WHO and UNICEF produced a module specifically for
only on survival would fail to meet the needs of the majority of community health workers who provide integrated nutrition,
children who survived but who had limited opportunities to health and preventive services for young children (WHO &
develop their capacities. To address this, WHO commissioned UNICEF 2014). Care for the Child’s Healthy Growth and
a review of effective nutrition and early childhood develop- Development integrates CCD into scheduled home visits to
ment interventions (Pelto et al. 1999). It concluded that the engage parents in talking and playing with their young
most effective and sustainable child development interventions children, as well as meeting their children’s basic health needs
a) occurred early in the child’s life, b) involved parents, c) (Table 1).
focused on children with the greatest need, and d) were
delivered through muliple channels and combined with other
Methods
services.
Based on the review, the first version of CCD was An inventory was compiled to ascertain where and how CCD is
implemented in 2002 through an adaptation of the IMCI being implemented and to identify modes of delivery. Requests
module for counselling caregivers on child nutrition. The to locate possible implementation sites were sent to WHO and
second version, launched in 2012, separated the intervention UNICEF staff and training consultants. Online searches for
from its dependence on the IMCI sick child visit. This opened ‘Care for Child Development’ using Google, Google Scholar and
options for delivery though other family services and allowed MedlinePlus found no additional sites. Questionnaires designed
for an increased frequency of contacts through well-baby to populate the inventory were sent to the 30 identified sites.
© 2017 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Child: care, health and development, 44, 1, 41--49
Care for Child Development 45
There was no response to four requests. All completed forms comm.). An effort to apply CCD in Uganda, begun in 2015, is
were followed by a phone interview. Three sites had not yet bringing together health, early childhood education and family
implemented CCD. Published literature and project reports protection services by training professional and community
were reviewed for six sites where key implementers were no workers across ministries to add greater support for child
longer available. Data from 23 sites in 19 countries were development (J. Nsungwa-Sabiiti, 2015, pers. comm.).
included in the database. For each site, the questionnaire In 2005, doctors, nurses and feldshers (medical officers)
identified when and how CCD was introduced, the sectors were trained in CCD in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
involved, the service providers and their training, the setting and to strengthen services for newborns and young children. Clinic
the type of expansion after initial implementation. nurses conduct weekly home visits during the child’s first
month or two after birth and monthly up to age 2 years, to
monitor the infant’s health and advise families on child
Results
nutrition and preventive care. Six years after the introduction
of CCD in these countries, Engle (2011) observed and
Implementation
interviewed health providers and found that CCD was well-
Care for Child Development has been integrated within a range integrated, although under different names, in the training of
of existing government and non-governmental services, and 20 visiting nurses and clinic doctors. In Kazakhstan, for example,
of the 23 implementation sites are sustained to the present time. almost all health workers interviewed reported that they had
These services include child survival and health (Botswana, received training to counsel parents on play and communica-
India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, Pakistan tion activities. Engle found that children had improved levels
and Tajikistan); nutrition rehabilitation (Mali and India); infant of development, particularly in language, gross motor and
care and early education (Kenya and Brazil); services to families social development skills.
with developmentally disabled children (India and Turkey); and The questionnaires revealed that core training materials
a conditional cash transfer programme (Brazil). In no place was (counselling cards, participant manual, and facilitator notes)
a new category of worker created specifically to deliver CCD. have been translated from English to 17 languages or dialects:
Instead, providers working with families were trained in CCD to Armenian, Mandarin Chinese, Chichewa (Malawi), Farsi (Iran),
promote the child’s development and build caregiving skills French (West Africa), Hindi (India), Kinyarwanda (Rwanda),
through the services they already deliver. Examples include Kiswahili (Zanzibar), Lugandan (Uganda), Mahrati (India),
community health workers (Botswana, India and Pakistan), Portuguese (Brazil and Mozambique dialects), Russian, Sindh
social workers and day care workers (Brazil) and paediatricians (Pakistan), Spanish, Tajiki (Tajikistan) and Turkish. These
and others working with children with developmental disabil- translations, with the adaptation to fit different cultures and
ities (India and Turkey). Thus, where implemented, the CCD delivery systems, support the continuing application of the CCD
approach has been fully integrated into existing services as a way approach to new countries and language groups.
to strengthen the skills of persons who work with families with WHO and UNICEF, the agencies that developed CCD, have
young children. been able to provide only limited financial support for
In the Haryana and Maharashtra states in India, for implementation, and neither has been able to maintain a
example, the child development component of the services of central reporting system. For this reason, the 2015 inventory
Anganwadi workers has been strengthened, with structured may have missed additional countries in which CCD was being
activities on play and communication introduced during implemented. Other complexities in developing a complete
mothers’ group meetings and home visits (J. Lucas, 2014, picture are that different forms of implementation arise from
unpublished). Paediatricians apply the CCD counselling tools the three CCD versions and subsequent adaptations, CCD is
in 11 referral centres across Turkey for families with children integrated within a variety of services and its ownership lies in
with developmental disabilities (Ertem et al. 2006; I. Ertem, different organizations.
2015, pers. comm.). They engage families in more positive
interactions with their children and helping children learn. In
Evaluation
Australia, CCD was introduced through child protection
services in remote Aboriginal communities to help address Early field tests focused on the process of delivering the
the consequences of broken intergenerational families and intervention and its feasibility. In 1999, a trial in Brazil found
prevent violence and child abuse (M. Looney, 2015, pers. that health workers could use the counselling tools, adding an
© 2017 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Child: care, health and development, 44, 1, 41--49
46 J.E. Lucas et al.
average of only 7 min to the sick child consultation (I. dos compared with children in the control group. More responsive
Santos et al., 1999, unpublished). After one session, caregivers and consistent caregiving, identified through self-reports on
could recall and implement the recommendations at home. In questionnaires, was related to better child development
2001, a second evaluation in 14 community health centres in outcomes. Furthermore, the intervention was found to be
South Africa, where IMCI was being introduced, confirmed understandable and acceptable to families.
that trained nurses could learn the counselling tasks, and A case-controlled efficacy study in Turkey examined the
counselling on CCD did not detract from caring for the sick influence on family practices of counselling during a sick child
child. Instead, communication skills were enhanced for key visit by paediatricians before and after they had received
IMCI tasks, such as interviewing the caregiver on signs of child training on CCD (Ertem et al., 2006). The communication
illness and providing instructions on giving medicine (M. skills of paediatricians in assessing and treating sick children
Chopra, 2001, unpublished). were improved. Home visits 1 month later found improved
Three published studies have examined the effectiveness and family practices, including increased time spent reading to
cost of CCD (Table 2). An efficacy study in China looked at children and more toys and other learning opportunities in the
children in families who had received two counselling sessions home. The study concluded that, even in a short time during a
within 6 months from their health providers (Jin et al. 2007). sick child visit, a physician could influence home practices that
These children had higher development quotient scores, support a young child’s development.
CCD, Care for Child Development; PEDS, Pakistan Early Child Development Scale-Up.
© 2017 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Child: care, health and development, 44, 1, 41--49
Care for Child Development 47
In Pakistan, a cluster-randomized study on the effectiveness that CCD could be implemented within a publicly funded,
and cost of delivering CCD counselling was conducted by cost-effective community health programme. National, or even
following 1411 mother–child dyads over 3 years (Yousafzai regional, scale-up, however, will require changes in govern-
et al. 2014; Yousafzai et al. 2015). The intervention, delivered ment policies, including in pre-service training. In Kazakhstan,
during monthly home visits and in mother groups by Lady for example, national policies brought CCD into the Better
Health Workers, improved parenting practices, including Parenting programme of the Ministry of Health. It became
family time with children in learning and language use, sustainable because it was institutionalized as part of the
positive caregiver–child interactions, greater availability of required package of health services for mothers and children
learning materials in the home and reduced harsh punishment. and in the pre-service training of providers. Going to scale,
The incidence of childhood illness (diarrhoea, acute respiratory therefore, requires government support of existing services,
illness and fever) was lower. Children in the CCD group had ready to be engaged in a greater role in early child development
higher cognitive, language and motor scores at 24 months. and responsive parenting.
Furthermore, depression was reduced among participating Policymakers are recognizing the accumulating evidence for
mothers. The Pakistan study demonstrated that the CCD expanding the survival agenda to include greater support for
intervention could be implemented on a large scale by existing child development. Even with political will to adopt the
community health providers and at relatively low cost intervention, however, the challenges for CCD are those
compared with other interventions (Gowani et al. 2014). encountered in other attempts to scale-up programmes.
However, the study also found that higher quality training and Introducing the intervention imposes burdens on existing
more regular (at least monthly) supervision were needed to systems where resources are already stretched for training,
strengthen the existing system. supervision and the provision of direct services. Expansion
beyond research and demonstration sites requires support for
monitoring and maintaining quality, which is seldom adequate
Discussion
once initial support is withdrawn. The generic CCD interven-
Interest in finding a way to strengthen support for child tion must be adapted to fit the delivery system and its
development has led to the implementation of CCD in at least providers, as well as to be culturally sensitive for the families it
23 sites. This analysis shows that there is not only a clear need, serves. Finally, although the costs have been demonstrated to
there is also strong interest in expanding the public health be lower than for other family services, implementing an
agenda for children, moving beyond survival to protect and intensive, effective intervention requires a commitment
support optimal development. The opportunity and imperative sufficient to see the desired return on the investment of
have been well recognized in the Global Strategy for Women’s, human and financial resources.
Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, launched by United
Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2015 in support
Conclusions
of the Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, EWEC
2015). The Global Strategy is built around three objectives: The Sustainable Development Goals demand that children
survive, thrive and transform. It provides a roadmap for should be helped to realize their developmental potential,
achieving ambitious targets towards a convergence for health because achieving multiple goals is contingent upon building a
and development within a generation (Jamison et al. 2013). healthy and emotionally, cognitive and socially competent next
The three published evaluations conducted in different generation. CCD supports caregivers in responding to this call,
delivery systems and geographical regions, although limited, and it was recognized as cost-effective and feasible in the 2017
are confirmed by the experiences reported in the inventory. Lancet series, Advancing Early Child Development: From Science
Using CCD, providers across health, nutrition, education, early to Scale. Now is the time for national policymakers and the
child development and child and social protection can provide global community to act and enable the scale-up of CCD as
greater support for child development within their services. part of integrated services for families and children.
Because the earliest years in a child’s life are the most
formative, however, integrating CCD into health services that
Funding
span from conception through pregnancy, childbirth and early
childhood is an opportunity that should not be missed (Lake & This study was supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
Chen 2015). For example, the Pakistan study demonstrated through the US Fund for UNICEF.
© 2017 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Child: care, health and development, 44, 1, 41--49
48 J.E. Lucas et al.
© 2017 The Authors. Child: Care, Health and Development Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Child: care, health and development, 44, 1, 41--49
Care for Child Development 49
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