Acceptability of a Digital Early Years Language Support Service for Caregivers of Children Who Have SLCN and/or Are Multilingual.
Emily Hancock, Colin Bannard, Silke Fricke and 8 others
PMID 41764654WHAT IT FOUND
Caregivers rated weekly language support videos and online speech therapy as highly acceptable.
They valued brief, practical content and human contact, but said videos needed more representation of diverse development, languages and family circumstances.
Key findings
01Average acceptability ratings were high on all seven dimensions for all pathways.
02Targeted online ELIM-I support was rated particularly high.
03Some caregivers found videos unhelpful or distressing when their child's needs were not represented, and one caregiver withdrew halfway through the month-long text service.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study measured acceptability, not child language outcomes. All caregivers were parents, including only two fathers, and no foster parents, so views may reflect mainly maternal experiences. All participants were comfortable using English and no translations were available, so families facing language barriers were not represented well. Participation was voluntary, so caregivers who gave feedback may have had more time and motivation than all families using the service. The targeted online support ratings were based on 16 caregivers. Some caregivers found videos distressing when they did not represent their child's needs, and one withdrew from the text service.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflict of interest. The work was supported by the Economic and Social Research Council.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that the digital service improves children's language. It measured caregivers' acceptability and did not test child language outcomes.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →