An App developed and led by University of Auckland research team has been launched called Play Kindly App 2.0 to assist Pacific parents to guide children’s positive behaviour.
The Play Kindly app, the first of its kind to be developed, was evaluated and tested in a random control trial. The team led by Professor Sally Merry in collaboration with Dr Cowley-Malcolm and the App development team launched the trial and test in Auckland on 30th November.
The launch was attended by people from The Cook Islands, Tonga, Samoa, Niue, Fiji and Aotearoa communities. They were Academics and researchers, technicians and artists, parents and grandparents, teachers and educationalists, students and health clinicians, psychiatrists, psychologists and paediatricians involved with children and families. PACIFICA – the national organisation of Pacific women was also represented.
The aim of the RCT study was to see whether – Play Kindly could increase parents’ ‘sense of competence’ compared to a control group and to see if parents ‘experience less ‘disruptive child behaviour’ after using the app
The aim was to recruit 180 participants to trial Play Kindly and another 180 to be the comparison group. However, due to covid restrictions and lockdowns this proved very difficult. After extensive efforts, the University of Auckland research team changed their approach and reached out to a Pacific Non-Government organisation ‘Moana Connect’ who in spite of COVID managed to recruit a very respectable 160 Participants into the Play Kindly trial and 160 into the comparison group.
Following completion in the use of the App there was
1) a significant positive increase in ‘parents’ assessment of their child’s behaviour’. Kids behaved better and
2) There was an obvious increasing trend in ‘parenting confidence’. Parents felt more competent.
Overall, Parents, and clinicians have been very positive and supportive of Play Kindly – this was shown in the results described.
Dr. Cowley-Malcolm says, “It’s nice to know that something originally created for Pacific parents by Pacific people in partnership with researchers at University of Auckland has been proven by an RCT to be useful for not only Pacific parents and their children but other NZ parents as well.”
The App is now free for the public to download and use from Apple App store and Google Play
