SmartParent is a parenting education program that texts evidence-based messages to guide parents through the first year of their infant's life. Messages are tailored to the infant's age and include links to online and local resources for infant health and development.
If you sign up for the SmartParent program, you will be asked to complete two surveys—one at enrollment and a follow-up survey near your child's first birthday. You will also be asked to provide your child's personal health number (PHN). Your enrollment in the SmartParent program does not require completing the surveys or providing your child's PHN—participation is completely voluntary. You can choose to answer some or none of the survey questions.
The information you are asked for in the surveys is used as part of a research study to learn about who signs up for SmartParent and will be used to improve the content, design and delivery of the program. This study is being conducted by academic researchers from the University of British Columbia in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, and Provincial Health Authorities. The study has been approved by the Ethics Committees at the Fraser Health Authority, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the University of British Columbia. You are being invited to take part in this study because you are a parent of an infant aged 0-1 years old and living in Canada. We have not identified any risks associated with taking part in the surveys. You may learn more about your child's health and through the first year of life, including what you can do to promote healthy development.
Your survey answers may help us learn how to better reach out to parents to inform them about the program and help us to improve the program. Your confidentiality is respected at all times: no information that discloses your identity will be published. Answers to survey questions will be reported in aggregate—that is, results will be reported for groups and not for individuals. Your child's PHN would allow us to look at infant health outcomes in an anonymous fashion, such as number of emergency department visits, non-routine visits to primary care providers and reasons for visits to assess whether parents and their children have benefitted from the SmartParent program. Study staff and investigators will not see your child's PHN and will not be able to link it to any information about your child's health outcomes or your survey answers. The SmartParent website administrator (MEMOTEXT in Toronto, ON) will send your child's PHN in a safe encrypted fashion to Population Data BC (PopData). PopData will use it to send the study team data without the PHN attached. MEMOTEXT will then erase the PHN from their database.
Participant Consent
Your participation in the surveys indicates that you are providing consent and that you are expecting that:
By signing up for SmartParent you:
Contact Information
If you have any questions, or desire further information about this study or the SmartParent program before or after your participation, you can contact the Co-Principal Investigator, Dr. Patricia Janssen, at 604-827-4026 or Dr. Wendy Hall at 604-822-7447. You can also contact the Research Manager, at 604-875-2314, toll-free at 1-855-871-BABY (2229) or by email at contact@smartparentcanada.ca. If you have any concerns about your rights as a research subject and/or your experiences while participating in this study, contact the Research Subject Information Line at the University of British Columbia Office of Research Services by e-mail at RSIL@ors.ubc.ca or by phone at 604-822-8598 (toll-free: 1-877-822-8598).
Study Team
Co-Principal Investigators |
Patricia Janssen, PhD, Professor UBC School of Population and Public Health 604-827-4026 Wendy Hall, RN, PhD, Professor Emeritus UBC School of Nursing 604-822-7447 |
Co-Investigators: | |
H. Bayrampour, PhD | Assistant Professor, UBC Midwifery Program |
M. Coman, RN, MSN | Regional Practice Initiatives Lead, Early Childhood Development, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority |
Y. Lamers, PhD | Assistant Professor, UBC Land and Food Sciences |
C. Larson, MD, MHSc | Director of Centre for International Child Health |
S. Munro, PhD | Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology |
K. Stoll, PhD | Research Associate, Birth Place Lab, UBC Division of Midwifery |
M. Urbina-Beggs, RN, MN | Clinical Nurse Specialist, Fraser Health Authority |
Research Manager: |
Sara Leckie, MSc 604-875-2314; toll-free at 1-855-871-BABY (2229) contact@smartparentcanada.ca |
Funding
This study and the development of SmartParent are funded by the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, the UBC Hampton Research Endowment Fund, and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies.