Four-year project to enhance access to parenting programs for families
The National Institutes of Health/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NIH/NICHD) awarded a four-year, $2.35 million grant through the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program to Klein Buendel, Inc. and a research team from The Ohio State University College of Nursing to identify effective methods for delivering parent training programs .
The project, “Hybrid Delivery to Increase Access and Sustainability: Evaluating ezParent Implementation,” is led by Associate Dean of Research Susie Breitenstein, PhD, RN, FAAN. Breitenstein and her team will use Head Start (HS) and Early Head Start (EHS) programs as testing sites to implement and evaluate a hybrid delivery model of the ezParent Program. The ezParent Program is a web-based parenting training program that offers evidence-based strategies for helping parents raise young children.
"Parenting is just as important of a job as my work in academia and healthcare. As a mother, I am very passionate about this topic; as a leader in research, my team and I aim to ensure that these resources effectively support parents in their critical roles,” Breitenstein said. "This is a crucial step toward giving community-based agencies the tools to offer families evidence-based, positive parenting training and resources."
The study will be conducted in two phases. Phase I will involve collaboration with an advisory board and expert consultants to refine program features and conduct usability testing. Phase II will test the implementation and efficacy of the ezParent Program implementation bundle in a cluster randomized trial across 16 HS/EHS sites.
Several other Ohio State College of Nursing faculty and staff are supporting this work, including co-investigators Assistant Professors Nathan Helsabeck, PhD, and Kayla Herbell, PhD, RN. The research team is also working with researcher Julia Berteletti from Klein Buendel, Inc., as well as Amie Bettencourt, PhD, and Debbie Gross, PhD, from Johns Hopkins University.
“We hope that this research will enhance our ability to reach more families, providing strength-based approaches to support parents in their parenting journeys and ultimately improve outcomes for children,” Breitenstein said. “It truly takes a village to raise a child, and I am happy to be part of that village.”
