THE POWER OF WORKING TOGETHER: TRANSFORMING CAREGIVER TRAINING DURING COVID-19

The very core of Whole Child International is about building strong relationships for children in residential care and childcare settings. Yet, COVID-19 plunged us all into increased isolation and social distancing making it extremely difficult for caregivers to  build essential strong social and emotional bonds with the children under their care. As we start to emerge into a new normal, we reflect on how Whole Child’s commitment to working collaboratively bridged the gaps created by COVID-19 over the last 12 months, and created an online training program in El Salvador that is allowing caregivers to continue to provide high quality care during these extremely difficult times.  

We knew as the pandemic hit that solutions needed to come from working together with all stakeholders and we turned to co-creation to explore the way forward. This is a collaborative and iterative process in which all participants have equal opportunity of identifying opportunities and challenges, investigating, analyzing and finding the best direction with our partners and beneficiaries and developing solutions together. This not only creates solutions that are more tailored to the purpose they are needed for, but it also creates a strong sense of commitment and ownership from all those taking the initiative forward.

This was the approach we took to adapt our caregiver training in El Salvador when in April 2020 we realized that face-to-face training sessions would stop due to the pandemic, and we immediately looked to how we could take the training and coaching online. We knew that supporting the caregivers in childcare centers would be needed now more than ever. But how could we turn full days of in-person training into something to be accessed online, at a time when caregivers would be under increased pressure?

Whole Child worked intensively with four members of the Salvadoran Early Childhood Department, Instituto Salvadoreño de Niñez y Adolescencia, (ISNA). Over a period of six weeks, an online course emerged that ISNA staff could start delivering to children’s center staff (directors, caregivers, support’s staff) in 15 urban centers.

The course focused on how the caregivers could apply relationship-centered practices within their centers and with the families they work with. It was specifically tailored to the pandemic, recognizing that suddenly many of the childcare centers would have reduced contact with the children as they isolated at home, and would now be working remotely through phone and online contact with parents and families. The series of seven sessions centered on topics including how to strengthen relationships, how to build bridges with families, and how to support children in periods of isolation.

Rather than long, online classes, the online program ran short 15-30 minute sessions twice a month. It kept away from formal presentations and used the sessions to briefly introduce/describe a concept and then trigger reflection and ideas from the participants as how to apply the concepts in their work. This peer-led, reflective approach with short and frequent sessions was the ideal approach for caregivers who are very short of time and looking for practical and motivational practices to bring quickly into their work.

One participant on the course, Eduardo Cañenguez, Técnico Nutricionista de la Subdirección de Programas para Prevención y Promoción de Derechos, said: “The co-creation sessions generated technical discussion and analysis in a way that changed our perceptions, especially around how to accomplish our goals remotely, which is essential given the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The sessions were also backed up with the development of online communities of practices where sessions of 30-45 minutes were available for the center directors and caregivers and ISNA staff to share experiences and knowledge. It gave the directors and caregivers the opportunity to further develop their coaching skills to use with their staff and the families they support to help introduce the concepts and practices of relationship-centered care.

One year later,  not only were we able to successfully reach all our intended participants, but Whole Child was able to begin expansion of the course from urban areas to rural areas. The co-creation model ensures that the course is accessible and relevant for a wide variety of audiences and contexts and gives Whole Child, and caregivers, the tools and support they need to succeed.