Provider perspectives and reach of an evidence-based intervention in community services for toddlers.
Community providers call Project ImPACT for Toddlers doable and are already folding it into their services.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Rieth et al. (2022) asked 38 community providers what they think of Project ImPACT for Toddlers. They ran focus groups and interviews. The team wanted to know if front-line staff find the program doable and useful.
What they found
Providers said the model fits their daily work. They called it easy and acceptable. Agencies are already adding it to their menus.
How this fits with other research
Ledbetter-Cho et al. (2023) looked at the same program one year later. They saw rising fidelity but also lots of on-the-fly tweaks. The two papers tell a timeline: first staff say "yes, we like it," then they show how they bend it while still keeping core pieces.
Hatton et al. (2005) painted a darker picture. Back in 2005, community staff mixed unproven tricks with ABA and had little training. Rieth et al. (2022) shows the field has moved; at least one evidence-based toddler program is now welcomed, not shrugged off.
Pickard et al. (2019) tried an earlier Medicaid-friendly ImPACT version. Parents liked that adapted form. Rieth et al. (2022) widens the lens to the provider view, showing both parents and staff now rate the program as workable.
Why it matters
You can pitch Project ImPACT for Toddlers to community agencies without a hard sell. Staff already see it as practical. Use their positive view to lock in training contracts and supervision plans, then track fidelity so tweaks stay within protocol.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Expert recommendations for toddlers who are likely to develop autism include caregivers being actively involved in the services children receive. However, many services available in the community may not follow these recommendations. Evidence suggests that an intervention named Project ImPACT for Toddlers demonstrates positive parent and child outcomes for families in the community. Project ImPACT for Toddlers was designed specifically for toddlers by a group of parents, clinicians, researchers, and funders. It teaches parents of young children strategies to support their child's development in daily routines. This study reports the perspectives of early intervention providers who learned to use Project ImPACT for Toddlers on whether the intervention was a good fit for their practice and easy to use. The study also examines how many agencies are using Project ImPACT for Toddlers and how many families have received the intervention in the community. The goal of the study is to inform the continued use of Project ImPACT for Toddlers in the community and support offering the intervention in other regions. Participants include 38 community providers who participated in a training study of Project ImPACT for Toddlers and completed a survey and semi-structured interview after approximately 3 months of using Project ImPACT for Toddlers with families. Participants perceived the training model as acceptable and appropriate, and identified the group-based model of training, comprehensive materials, and agency support as strengths of the approach. Survey findings complemented the results from the interviews. Data indicate an increasing number of agencies and families accessing Project ImPACT for Toddlers. Efforts to expand evidence-based intervention in early intervention should continue to build upon the model used for Project ImPACT for Toddlers.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2022 · doi:10.1177/13623613211065535