Congratulations Sarah Bartlett on the submission of your thesis for the Graduate Certificate in Arts and Social Science (Research). Sarah's thesis was titled "Caregivers’ insights into supporting their late talkers using Target Word™ Hanen® Parent Program". We had a happy online submission party to celebrate the occasion:
Background: Children who are late talkers benefit from interventions such as Target Word™ Hanen Program® for Parents. Understanding caregivers’ experiences can assist speech language pathologists (SLPs) to promote caregivers’ active engagement to positively impact child outcomes from interventions.
Aim: To explore caregivers’ experiences and engagement during the 16-week Target Word™ intervention.
Method: Qualitative Interpretative Description (ID) methodology was used to understand the experience of five caregivers who had recently completed Target Word™. Caregivers attended a focus group to share their perspectives. Transcripts of these focus groups were analysed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis.
Results: Two themes were identified. Firstly, that caregivers described explicit roles for SLPs to support their engagement over time: in the beginning (clarify expectations), middle (enable caregiver to link changes in their behaviour to positive child outcomes) and final (empowered caregivers) phases of the intervention. Secondly, that caregiver engagement in learning is individual, influenced by (a) individual needs and expectations, (b) active engagement during key learning moments, (c) influence of the broader environment.
Conclusion: Caregivers participating in Target Word™ experienced unique engagement journeys over the course of the program. SLPs can explicitly facilitate engagement at each phase of Target Word™ to promote active engagement for learning and ultimately caregiver empowerment to support their children’s language growth.
