Flexibility and Collaboration Skills are the Keys to Project Success
As the semester is winding down and my group’s collaboration with our partnership is coming to a close, I have been reflecting on not only how our final product turned out, but also the entire journey of the creation of our guided journal from start to finish. It is exciting to have a completed tangible item to present to our partner when in the beginning we only had an idea of the possibility of what our product could be. Through the process of engaging in discussion to include all of our ideas as a group, as well as satisfy the needs of our partners, we had to be flexible with how the product would change and we couldn’t be married to any aspect of the product. Tomorrow, December 15th, we will be meeting with our partners to present and discuss the final prototype of the guided journal, which is very exciting. Here, I am going to discuss recent updates and what has transpired in the final stretch of our project.
In our third meeting with our partners, we discussed our prototype along with both thematic topics as well as specific content that will be included in the guided journal. Also, we discussed formatting and the overall aesthetic the journal would have. In terms of responsive care skills, our first and primary objective from our partners, there will be informational sections, such as a developmental chart of tummy time milestones for their babies. Our partners expressed rather than making the prompts formal and in psychology terminology, it is important to use lay language to make it as inviting and straightforward as possible.
We also learned that because of technology issues and needing to be flexible, it is important to be on hand with alternative forms of communication. This happened in this meeting; the internet connection was chopping and freezing, unfortunately, so we needed to utilize the chat. This also meant for additional feedback, we decided it would be best to receive it directly on the Google Doc we were working on. After the meeting, we sent our partners the link to the Google Doc where they wrote comments directly on the Guided Journal Draft itself.
For the design of the journal, our group member Nina, hand-designed flowered with thin lines that echo the charts and tables that will be provided in the journal. The purpose of this formatting is to have a clear space for teenage mothers to outline important aspects of responsive care skills, such as keeping track of their daily schedule with their babies. There are sections for responsive care skills, psychoeducation, and self-reflection, which includes prompts for gratitude, self-resilience, and mindfulness practices. Also, there is open space for teenage mothers to draw and be creative in their own reflection.
I found it very fascinating that a common theme amongst the guest lectures was the topic of not only the value of the positive benefits children in early development receive from responsive care skills, but also that it is a necessity. This goes beyond the scope of attending to physical and emotional needs through things like feeding and changing, but also play. Speaker Chemba Raghavan of UNICEF spoke on the universal importance of play with babies, infants, and children in early childhood.
Also, Chemba Raghavan spoke about how both mental health resources for caregivers and responsive care skills with children are imperative, especially now in the global pandemic of COVID. Research on the effects of COVID-19, recommended by Chemba Raghavan, said, “Maternal mental health plays an important role during pregnancy also. Research has demonstrated exposure to prenatal depression affecting DNA methylation in a gene related to the stress response in the child. Prenatal maternal stress more generally can lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth and increased perinatal complications.” (Yoshikawa, et al., 2020). Stress, due to external factors from COVID-19 is at an all-time high and it is crucial that mothers who are pregnant are included in the mental health resources and it isn’t only important for mothers upon the baby being born.
The same research also spoke about caregivers and family support which said, “Third, the unique challenges of COVID-19 require further integration of family support with the realities of distancing, quarantine, isolation, and, in too many cases, loss. COVID-19-related awareness can accompany ECD awareness and supports for parental well-being and responsive caregiving. When distancing within households is indicated, separation of children from caregivers should only occur when absolutely necessary; when it does occur, communication between children and caregivers should be maintained as much as possible.” (Yoshikawa, et al., 2020). This highlights the potential for babies experiencing separation anxiety, which my group addresses in the journal, and the importance of caregivers learning and understanding the emotional responses from your baby. Caregivers need to give even more communication and attention to the babies’ needs during COVID-19 where living situations can change frequently as well as the amount of family support available.
I am really excited to see how our partners react to our guided journal and really hope it can serve the teenage mothers and their babies well. It will be really rewarding to present it to them as well as share it with our class in our final presentation next week, as this has been several months of hard work and it is now coming to a close.
Reference: Effects of the Global Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic on Early Childhood Development: Short- and Long-Term Risks and Mitigating Program and Policy Actions. Yoshikawa, H., et al. The Journal of Pediatrics May 4, 2020; last revision received May 13, 2020; accepted May 13, 2020.
