2.3 Early intervention
Early intervention programs may look very different from each other but the goal is the same – to intervene early in the lives of children who are experiencing biological, developmental or environmental challenges. View the next excerpt from The Beginning of Life documentary and hear about the evidence behind investing in the early years, specifically in interventions.
Some early interventions are centre-based, some are home-based and many are mixed and directed at children and their parents. In some cases, attending an early childhood program is the intervention in and of itself. Listen to a parent share her perspective.
Across Canada there are over 170 specific early intervention programs, services and strategies. A single early intervention program may be province-wide with several separate delivery sites (Eggleton & Keon, 2009). We often talk about intervention strategies but how do we know what really works?
Dr. Marni Brownell, senior research scientist and associate director of research at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy, describes a specific type of intervention program targeted to disadvantaged children. She goes on to comment on the need to ensure children who are disadvantaged are included when programs are universally available.
Bucharest Early Intervention Project
During the 1990’s, the world learned about the tragedy of children raised in Romanian orphanages. Young children were found in very low quality institutions with little emotional or social stimulation (Weir, 2014). Researchers can study those children who began life in very negative circumstances and now are in nurturing settings, to see to what extent early deprivation can be overcome. It is a natural field experiment that allows researchers to compare the group that gets the intervention (adoption into a nurturing family) earlier with those who get it later.
The following readings and interviews with Dr. Charles Nelson, a professor in the Department of Society, Human Development and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, describe the results of the children – at age eight and age 12 – who were being followed in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP).
What do these research findings tell us about early environments for children?
What hope do you see in these research results?
Carolina Abecedarian Project
The Carolina Abecedarian Project in the United States considered whether high quality, intensive child care for young infants from poor backgrounds and parenting supports increases their likelihood of school success.
Dr. Joseph Sparling, one of the investigators and developers of the program, explains the history of the Abecedarian project and meaning of the word “abecedarian”.
In the next three videos Sparling discusses more current findings as the original participants were reaching 40 years of age.
What does this study tell us about the impact of early experience?
According to the research findings, do experiences after early childhood have any impact on children’s skills and abilities?
Why is this study considered to be a high quality research study?
A comprehensive, integrated approach is a common characteristic of effective early interventions. For example, the Carolina Abecedarian Project offers programming that combines health, early childhood education, non-parental care, home-visiting, and parenting supports to participants. Explore the following website to learn more about how such a program has been implemented in the Lord Selkirk Park community in Winnipeg.
How is the Lord Selkirk Park Child Care Centre an example of an early intervention?
What are the benefits for children?
What are the benefits for parents, or for staff?
Aboriginal Head Start
Aboriginal Head Start is a large-scale Canadian early intervention designed to provide early childhood education and family support to First Nations, Metis and Inuit children and their families. Aboriginal Head Start began in 1994 with a focus on Aboriginal families living off-reserve in cities and large northern communities. In 1998, Aboriginal Head Start was extended to First Nations communities. Indigenous culture and language is one of the six components of the program. Parental involvement is another (Government of Canada, 1998).
Head Start programs originated in the United States during the 1960s. It is a program delivery model that provides early childhood education programs for disadvantaged preschool children and often involves their parents and a number of other health and social services (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2019).
National evaluations of Aboriginal Head Start programs suggest parental satisfaction, increased use of Aboriginal languages and cultural practices, moderate improvements in literacy, and increased health and physical development (Health Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada, 2007).
An evaluation of AHS programs in urban and northern communities (off-reserve) from 2011-12 to 2015-2016 found four main explanations for the need for AHS programs: 1. Indigenous people in Canada are increasingly living off-reserve, 2. the programs offer protection against poor socioeconomic conditions, 3. the early years are important for future success in education, and 4. programs that are culturally appropriate and holistic are better at meeting the needs of Indigenous children (Health Canada and Public Health Agency of Canada, 2017, p. iii-iv).
How does an understanding of cultural context support the positive outcomes of AHS?
These examples highlight three different effective early intervention programs that can lead to lifelong benefits for children and families. The key is to intervene early – a crucial time for the developing brain of a child.
The game on the next page reviews key points in this research section (pages 2 to 2.3).
