Pé de Infância Whatsapp Journey — Early Years Starter Kit

Overview

The Pé de Infância WhatsApp Journey aims to promote playing, singing, and storytelling among parents/caregivers of children 5 and under in Brazil. Over the course of 21 days, service providers or other trusted community members (e.g., social workers, community health workers, home visitors) are encouraged to share daily content from a manual – including a message and accompanying audio and graphics that include tips to parents and caregivers – over WhatAapp.

The Pé de Infância WhatsApp Journey has been in use across 11 municipalities in Brazil. It was developed through research into behavior change involving community members and experts.

Active since 2020

Developer Allma Hub

How it works

The Pé de Infância WhatsApp Journey is shared as a manual with municipalities which then cascade it to service providers who can share with parents and caregivers.

The manual includes a set of daily content that can be sent over WhatsApp over the course of 21 days. Each day’s content focuses on a particular theme/tip (called a “mission”) around playing, storytelling, and singing, and includes stickers, gifs, audio, and inspirational images. For example, one of the daily missions centers on telling bedtime stories.
The WhatsApp Journey has primarily been distributed through existing community contacts in municipalities. For example, a health or social worker may already be in contact with a family over WhatsApp and then encouraged to share messages from the WhatsApp Journey.
By including these pre-developed messages in a manual which is then distributed to municipalities, Allma Hub aims to reduce management costs and enable municipalities to determine the best approach for dissemination.

User engagement strategies
Key functions
- Sharing tips and resources Sharing knowledge and activities to improve practices, behaviors, and skills in different ways (e.g., short messages, videos) to support child development.

Reach and relevance

Users
Varied
Between July and September 2020, the WhatsApp Journey content was delivered to 500 and 150 families respectively in the Jundiaí and Brasileia municipalities with support of home visitors from the national program, Criança Feliz. In Pelotas, the content was used by home visitors from the Criança Feliz and Primeira Infância Melhor Programs, as well as in 33 public schools, to reach approximately 7,100 children.
Country of origin
- Brazil
Active countries
Brazil
Language
- Portuguese
Dissemination strategy
The WhatsApp Journey relies on trusted frontline professionals who already have a relationship with families and existing channels of communication. Allma Hub has shared the WhatsApp Journey as a manual with municipalities which then cascade it to service providers who can share with parents and caregivers.

Technology and access

The WhatsApp Journey requires a smartphone. While internet connectivity is necessary to initially access the content, it can be downloaded and reviewed offline.

Connectivity requirements
- Partial or full offline functionality Tool content can be accessed offline once downloaded.
Device types
- Smartphone
Cost model
- Free The tool is available at no charge to the user.

Measurement

User feedback and testing has informed the development of the Pé de Infância WhatsApp Journey. Allma Hub designed a prototype and then conducted focus groups with parents to test the messages. Some of the learnings from this user testing included that parents need simple, short text that is easy to digest and that a relatable and trusted contact is important for transmitting messages. This testing also surfaced the accessibility of WhatsApp as a platform for engagement which is in high use among low-income families.

Partnerships

The development of the Pé de Infância WhatsApp Journey was funded by Bernard van Leer Foundation as part of the Urban 95 program. Pé de Infância has collaborated with ECD focal points in 11 municipalities to identify service providers and community members who can disseminate the WhatsApp Journey to parents and caregivers.

Digitaf

Winnie

MomConnect