Study Protocol: Cognitive, Emotional and Social Stimulation Programme for Low-SES Children.

Overview

Latin America and the Caribbean exhibit high rates of poverty and social exclusion, where a significant portion of the population faces challenges in meeting basic needs. This socioeconomic vulnerability exacerbates environmental violence and its associated consequences. Recognizing that contexts of poverty and social exclusion can adversely impact children's cognitive and emotional development, this research protocol aims to address these challenges. It proposes a cognitive and emotional stimulation program, complemented by an intervention targeting teachers and caregivers, grounded in neuroeducational principles. The overarching goal is to enhance children's cognitive and academic performance, thereby improving their long-term quality of life. Methods: A randomised controlled trial will be conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention in an experimental group compared to a control group. A sample of more than 500 children from primary schools in disadvantaged contexts in Colombia A digital stimulation programme, designed and supervised by neuropsychologists, will be implemented within the classrooms and will be complemented with educational sessions in neuroeducation for teachers and caregivers, with weekly activities for 3 months. Three evaluations will be carried out: 1) pre-intervention, 2) post-intervention and 3) follow-up. During follow-up, the control group will receive the stimulation programme. Conclusions: The researchers anticipate a positive impact on the cognitive, emotional and academic performance of these children, providing evidence and support for the long-term creation of a tested and validated cognitive and emotional stimulation programme that could be integrated into the academic curriculum of educational centres in disadvantaged contexts.

There is evidence of a large gap in the cognitive development of children and adolescents in violent contexts and situations of socio-economic vulnerability. There are multiple reasons that affect the cognitive and emotional development of these children, who are at a disadvantage with respect to children of the same age who are not in the same situation or who enjoy better contextual situations. Poor nutrition, the type of stimulation provided by the environment, stressful situations and the constant subjection of the brain to states of alertness encourage the deficiencies found in their integral development. This neuropsychological stimulation programme specifically designed for children at risk of social exclusion aims to be an effective tool in strengthening some of the cognitive abilities with the greatest evidence of impairment, in this case, language (e.g., vocabulary, comprehension and expression), attention (especially the ability to sustain it voluntarily for prolonged periods of time: concentration), and executive functions (set of skills that allow us to voluntarily regulate our behaviour thanks to the inhibition of responses, planning, reasoning and flexible decision making adjusted to the demands of the environment). In response to the results and observations of the studies carried out within the framework of project 0C138/2020 'MEJORA GUATE', this research proposes intervention objectives for the needs of the participating population, based on a more holistic strategy that integrates the child and their immediate environment. Considering that caregivers and teachers mediate cognitive, emotional, and social development, this project seeks to improve the impact on the different areas of the child's performance. To achieve the planned objectives, work will be carried out through three main axes of application: the neuropsychological stimulation axis, the neurodevelopment training axis, and the dissemination axis, which will in turn be divided into two phases. The Neuropsychological Stimulation Axis: aims to improve and enhance the development of the cognitive and emotional skills of children from disadvantaged areas of Colombia through direct intervention with them through group activities carried out in their usual educational contexts. To this end, innovative neuropsychological tools from the clinical care of children with neurodevelopmental disorders will be applied to the cognitive and emotional stimulation of these children at risk of social exclusion. The Training Axis: will build the knowledge base on neurodevelopment and brain function in learning, with the aim of promoting best practice in the implementation of teaching staff, as well as parenting practices and home support by carers. The training will be delivered in a dual format, face-to-face and online, following pedagogical processes with established didactic objectives, evaluation criteria and monitoring of the training received. The Dissemination Axis: aims to disseminate the advances and results of the research, as well as the pedagogical content of the training, which will generate a greater social reach by promoting complementary channels through which the content on learning and its brain functioning can be shared with different social actors in a didactic and pedagogical way. In terms of resources, it is proposed to create a handbook of good practices to serve as a model for other educational communities, a website with didactic resources and asynchronous training processes, as well as fluid channels for sharing knowledge through social networks commonly used by these groups, such as WhatsApp or Instagram. The methodology proposed for the implementation of this project aims to promote, from a didactic, longitudinal and cumulative perspective, the improvement of the academic performance and quality of life of Colombian children at risk of social exclusion. By combining the three axes mentioned above, the researchers hope to achieve long-term improvements in the performance of these children. It is clear to us that a professional who understands how to use children's learning to improve their academic performance and quality of life will not only benefit the children, but also many others who may subsequently benefit from the learning of the teachers and carers involved in the project. A teacher who understands how their students' brains work can improve their teaching strategies by enhancing learning resources. And a caregiver who recognises and identifies the needs of children's brains when they are learning or reviewing academic content in the home can help them learn more effectively. Therefore, this proposal aims to strengthen the affected cognitive functions and prevent the persistence of their negative effects on participants. To achieve this latter goal, a contextual intervention is proposed to inform about brain functioning during learning acquisition, addressing key concepts of neurodevelopment and the neurocognitive processes involved in learning. Likewise, it seeks to offer specific strategies to parents, caregivers, and teachers in order to promote critical reflection on the quality of support provided to children. It is hoped that this intervention will not only have a positive impact on educational and care practices during the implementation of the project but also generate sustainable changes over time. The inclusion of caregivers and teachers in the intervention is based on the analysis of results obtained in previous studies, which show that their participation is key to enhancing the positive effects on children. This measure responds to the need to address contextual factors that, in the absence of adequate support, can limit the effectiveness of interventions aimed exclusively at children. This cognitive stimulation programme incorporates specific activities that promote emotional intelligence, the ability to recognise emotions (our own and those of others) and social cognition (a set of skills that allow us to understand the thoughts and emotions of others, "putting ourselves in the other person's shoes", thus improving empathy). Consequently, it is expected that the improvement of cognitive and emotional skills will have a positive impact on students' academic performance as one of the basic pillars on which meaningful and lasting learning is based. In the long term, cognitive, emotional and academic improvements are expected to have a positive effect on the expectations and quality of life of these children at risk of social exclusion. The promotion of comprehensive health and well-being conditions is expected to lead to a more inclusive childhood and social development that will bring them closer to a more hopeful future as adults. Among the innovative elements, the use of web-based neurorehabilitation platforms and digital applications stands out, which until now have only been applied in clinical treatment contexts (neurodevelopmental disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Intellectual Disability or Autism Spectrum Disorder). In this project, these tools are made available free of charge to children at risk of social exclusion. For its part, developing training for educators and caregivers allows the approach from the different contexts involved in the child's learning. These trainings will be face-to-face and online and will rely on the use of new information technologies, video tutorials through social networks, to maximise the participation of educators from different locations and caregivers who usually have limited availability. Overall, these innovations are expected to promote a healthier and more effective environment for children's cognitive and emotional development, with a positive impact on the participants' academic performance, on their quality of life and on the people (teachers and caregivers) who directly or indirectly contribute to it.