Waterloo Better Beginnings as a Transformative Prevention Project: Impacts on Children, Parents, and the Community

• Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health 2020-05, Vol.17 (10), p.3442
• Main Authors: Nelson, Geoffrey, Hasford, Julian, Zatarain, Carlos Luis, Gilmer, Alexis, Worton, S Kathleen, Eid, Marwa, Bangash, Salma, Horne, Jeremy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Child & adolescent mental health; Children; Children & youth; Churchill, Winston Leonard Spencer (1874-1965); Emotional behavior; Families & family life; Hypotheses; Kindergarten; Low income areas; Low income groups; Mental disorders; Mental health; Minority & ethnic groups; Parents; Parents & parenting; Participation; Prevention; Public health; Qualitative analysis; Social interactions; Teachers
• ISSN: 1660-4601; 1661-7827; 1660-4601
• DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17103442

Better Beginnings Waterloo (BBW) is an ecological, community-driven, prevention program for children aged 4-8 and their families. BBW was implemented in two low-income communities with high percentages of visible minorities. Data on Grade 1-2 children and their parents (the baseline comparison group) were gathered through parent interviews ( = 34) and teacher reports ( = 68) in 2015, prior to BBW programs, and in the period 2018-2019, the same data were collected through parent interviews ( = 47) and teacher reports ( = 46) for children and parents participating in programs (the BBW group). As well, qualitative, open-ended individual interviews with parents ( = 47) and two focus groups were conducted in the period 2018-2019. Children in the BBW cohort were rated by their teachers as having a significantly lower level of emotional and behavioural problems than those in the baseline sample; parents in the BBW cohort had significantly higher levels of social support than parents in the baseline cohort; BBW parents rated their communities significantly more positively than parents at baseline. The qualitative data confirmed these findings. The quantitative and qualitative short-term findings from the BBW research showed similar positive impacts to previous research on program effectiveness, thus demonstrating that the Better Beginnings model can be successfully transferred to new communities.