Family Engagement In Early Childhood Interventions: A Systematic Literature Review

Background and Purpose: Early childhood interventions across helping professions (e.g., social work, nursing, speech language pathology, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy early intervention) are most effective accompanied by high levels of parental involvement or family engagement. However, research regarding family engagement in interventions for children between the ages of zero to three is limited; specifically, best practices for engaging families in such interventions have yet to be established. Given that the relationship between parents and staff is reciprocal, understanding the influence of this dyadic partnership is key to improving the quality of early childhood interventions. A systematic review of the literature on the role of parent involvement or family engagement in early childhood interventions targeting children between the ages of zero and three assists with identifying and understanding how to leverage the practitioner-parent partnership to ensure optimal outcomes for young children.

Methods: The review was conducted according to the 2020 PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion and exclusion criteria pertaining to parent involvement and family engagement in early childhood interventions for children between the ages of zero and three were established for conducting the systematic literature review. A systematic search of the literature with Academic Search Premier, PsycINFO, CINAHL and ERIC was conducted. All authors reviewed a subsection of the identified articles, with at least two of the three authors reviewing each article in the selection software Rayyan to ensure interrater reliability. Disagreements concerning the inclusion of individual articles were resolved through team discussion and consensus. Of the initially identified 532 articles, 11 articles were determined to fit the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Additional eligible articles were identified through hand-searching and citation tracking. The authors examined the included articles through a literature matrix, developing a narrative synthesis of the research studies.

Results: Themes that emerged from the narrative synthesis include practitioner’s use of relational skills and coordinated care services, collaboration between the parent and practitioner, the development of a relational feedback loop between the parent and the practitioner, overcoming mistrust, and parents’ perceptions of trust, belief, sense of control, and program feasibility.

Results suggest practitioners’ development of relational skill is key to ensuring a high level of family engagement in early childhood interventions. Parental involvement and family engagement is subsequently associated with better child outcomes.

Conclusions and Implications: Parental involvement and family engagement in early childhood interventions may be improved through strengthening the relationship between parents and practitioners Additional research is needed to fully understand techniques that can be utilized by practitioners to increase parental involvement and family engagement. Implications for practice and future research will be discussed.