The NSPCC has begun a major project with the not-for-profit organisation Shift to gauge the opinions of parents who are often overlooked by research to provide insights for future campaigns.
The children’s charity said the research would involve a wide range of techniques, including speaking to parents through online diary tasks, immersive interviews, focus groups in community settings and speaking to those who support parents in their parenting – for example, friends, family members and professionals.
Shift has been appointed as the NSPCC’s insights partner because the two organisations work together on the national behaviour change campaign. They will work together to capture the opinions of those parents in groups that are often overlooked in research, such as young parents, parents on very low incomes, those with children who have disabilities and parents in minority ethnic communities.
Once the results of the research have been analysed they will be drawn into actionable insights that will then feed directly into a planned communications campaign as well as informing other forthcoming NSPCC work.
Shift’s experience in this area includes work relating to the emotional development of children. The company is currently developing a personalised mobile website with the National Childbirth Trust, which matched parents with information they thought was interesting and relevant to their circumstances.
Chris Cloke, head of safeguarding at the NSPCC, said: "We look forward to capitalising on Shift’s expertise in this area to gain a more detailed understanding of parenting techniques across the full spectrum of society."
Nick Stanhope, chief executive of Shift, added: "Shift and the NSPCC share a deep commitment to early intervention and preventing harm to children, so we’re very excited to be part of their work to support parents and carers. We’ll bring everything we have learnt from many years of working closely with parents and practitioners to inform and design new forms of support."