Promoting Health Through Play Program: Improving Parent and Child Outcomes

The Feasibility of the Promoting Health Through Play Opportunities Program in Improving Parent and Child Outcomes for Underserved Families.

This project aims to assess the feasibility of an intervention program consisting of parent online group sessions in addition to guided individual play session between parent, child, and occupational therapy student (OTS) or an occupational therapist (OT).

The investigators speculate that the Promoting Health Through Play Opportunities program will be effective in improving:

1. Parent ability to support their child's playfulness as measured during 15-minute video-recorded joint play activity at home using the Parent/Caregiver Support of Childre Playfulness [PC-SCP].
2. Child's playfulness behavior as measured during 15-minute video-recorded joint play activity at home using the Test of Playfulness [ToP].
3. Child's psychological adjustment as measured by the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire [SDQ].
4. Parent's perception and satisfaction from their involvement in the program as measured through open-ended questions.

The Promoting Health Through Play Opportunities program (Halperin et al., 2021; Waldman-Levi & Halperin, 2022) is a strength-based intervention that provides tools to help parents become change agents in their child's life through the promotion of healthy play opportunities within the family context. This research project aims to enhance children's development through playful interactions with their parents. The investigators speculate that the program will be effective in improving parent and child joint play experience and child's social-emotional functioning.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Enrolled in Head Start pre-school program within New York greater area
• Parent-child dyads
• Child must be 3 to 5 years old, with/without delay or disability.
• If a parent has more than one child in this age range, the oldest of them will be recruited for the study
• Parent IS committed to attending pre-and-posttest as well as online group sessions
• Parent has access to a device other than a phone (tablet, iPad, laptop) and has stable internet connection to be able to participate in the online group and dyadic session
• For the English-speaking group, parent must be fluent in English
• For the Spanish speaking group, parent must be fluent in the Spanish language.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Parents with a sensory deficit (e.g., hearing or vision impairment) that will affect their ability to participate in an online group program
• Parents with psychiatric or behavioral disorders that affect their ability to participate in a group-based intervention