Skip to main content

Table 4 Proposed refinements to the culturally adapted Healthy Beginnings program

From: Feasibility of a culturally adapted early childhood obesity prevention program among migrant mothers in Australia: a mixed methods evaluation

Key area

Proposed refinements

Set-up and preparation

• Ensure adequate time and resources for set-up (e.g. administrative systems)

• Finalise operational procedures and provide training to all staff

• Ensure bicultural and bilingual staff from target communities are part of the project team

Recruitment

â–ª Enhance strategies to describe the study at time of recruitment (e.g. a short video, a handout summarising the plain language statement, a media story to promote benefits of participating)

â–ª Convey the key purpose of the program to potential participants (e.g. health department offering free parenting support by a nurse in your language)

Program delivery

• Ensure adequate bi-cultural nursing staff availability

• Plan for longer nurse call consultation time, particularly for mothers with complex situations

• Consider ways to increase flexibility of call scripts and call script data entry

• Create a resource list for nurses to use during calls, including videos/materials for visuals as needed

• Consider ways to increase involvement of participant’s family in the program

• Continue to send program resources to participants by mail, but also send by email. Consider other online formats for program delivery.

• Actively link with and refer to community services – e.g., general practitioners, health care services, playgroups and cultural community organisations

Program content

• Strengthen messaging regarding introducing solids at around 6 months of age in the program booklets

• Include additional information about baby development, food textures and recipes, baby sleep, tired signs, and best-practice formula feeding

• Include information about mothers’ diet and infant feeding during cultural events

• Enhance sections about mothers’ mental health, support, and self-care practices