Martha Vibbert’s Universal Baby Project
Martha Vibbert, PhD, Director of BMC’s SPARK Center and core faculty at the Center for Multicultural Training in Psychology, presented her international project, Universal Baby, at the 2018 First International Conference on Early Childhood Development (ECD) hosted by the African Early Childhood Network in Nairobi, Kenya (October, 16th-20th). The conference celebrated the launch of the global Nurturing Care for Early Childhood Development Framework* and its planned implementation in all African countries. Dr. Vibbert’s presentation was part of a session on Innovative Practices and was titled: “Harnessing Video and Mobile Technology to Support and Scale Responsive Caregiving and Neurodevelopmental Health.”
Universal Baby (UB) uses video, mobile technology, and social media, to put the science of infant brain development directly into the hands of parents and caregivers, while, it simultaneously models explicit examples of local caregivers interacting with babies in the responsive and nurturing ways that boost brain development and strengthen early attachment. UB is designed to catalyze other health and parenting support interventions, and it can be flexibly customized for in any geographic location, any language, any culture, and any child-rearing tradition. Dr. Vibbert shared the results of a controlled comparison study to test the feasibility and efficacy of UB in Lima, Peru. The study was funded by a ‘Stars in Global Health’ grant from Grand Challenges Canada, and conducted in collaboration with Socios En Salud (Partners in Health) in Peru.