Deliver INFANT
“I strongly agree that INFANT is one of the most important primary preventions and interventions in supporting the important milestones of all young generation’s lifelong health to be successful and healthy physically, mentally and emotionally development and growth in their first 1000 days journey and further up to the age of 5 years which is very engaging and interacting with low-cost intervention, high utility, uptake and impact on key health behaviours for mothers and children.”
“I think the implementation of INFANT will benefit our MCH service in many ways. It will compliment the information provided in the 4 month KAS and reduce the need for additional consultations, particularly in our first time parents, at the 3 month and 6 month marks as they will have access to speak with a MCHN. The trade off of 1.5 hours in the MCHN calendar to facilitate the INFANT session will likely reduce requirement of additional consultations and potentially save time overall.”
First Steps
As each organisation is different, the way in which INFANT will be implemented varies. The overall goal and content for INFANT will remain the same across organisations. However, there is flexibility in how the program is implemented, including how it is embedded into services, who facilitates it, where it is held and how long it takes to roll out.
Here we walk you through what our research has told us are the important steps to help you consider if and how you might implement INFANT in your community.
- Step 1: Is there a need for INFANT in your area?
- Step 2: How could INFANT be set up in your area?
- Step 3: Express your interest with the INFANT team
- Step 4: Establish your INFANT set-up and complete the facilitator training
- Step 5: Begin implementing INFANT
- Implementing INFANT internationally
Step 1: Is there a need for INFANT in your area?
You know your community and you are the expert here. The following questions may help with establishing a case and advocating for INFANT in your area:
- What is the birth rate in your organisation’s catchment?
- What are the food and activity patterns of children in your catchment? Consider looking at your local health data.
- How many new parent groups run in your area per year?
- What policies and strategies are available to support programs, initiatives, and services to support families with infants and young children?
- What programs, initiatives and services are on offer to families with infants under 2 years?
- Can these policies, strategies and/or related initiatives be used to support the implementation of INFANT in your area?
Step 2: How could INFANT be set up in your area?
Start talking with your local stakeholders who can help answer questions from Step 1 and assist in the delivery of INFANT for your area. Stakeholders might include services and structures such as:
- Maternal and Child Health Services
- Local Government
- Community Health Services
- Public Health Units
- Primary Health Networks
- DHHS Population Health and Wellbeing teams
- Other relevant organisations in your area
Consider who may be the lead organisation and what delivery model might work in your area – begin thinking about where INFANT group sessions could be held, participant referral and administration tasks, and who could be trained as facilitators.
Get inspired by case studies from the areas already running INFANT.
Step 3: Express your interest with the INFANT team
After considering how INFANT might be run in your local area, it’s time to get in touch with the INFANT team.
Email the team at infant-study@deakin.edu.au.
We’ll be in touch to discuss your implementation and support you through the next steps.
Step 4: Consider your INFANT set-up and complete the INFANT training
Organisations implementing INFANT will need to identify team members who will undertake the INFANT training. Training is an essential step and ensures that you have the most up-to-date information, resources and support needed to implement INFANT.
Once training is complete, and your organisation is ready to move forward, then the lead organisation will need to prepare an implementation plan with contribution from all of the organisations that will be involved. This is outlined in the INFANT training.
Step 5: Begin implementing INFANT
Once you have staff trained and an implementation plan in place, you are ready to start implementing INFANT!
The INFANT team is very committed to working with international partners to adapt the program materials for audiences outside of Australia. Please get in touch with the INFANT team to discuss at infant-study@deakin.edu.au.
Resources
Once you have undertaken the training, you will have access to all the resources you need to implement the INFANT program. Resources available here include more information about running the INFANT program:
Program implementation template
This resource contains a template. It will help you think about how you can coordinate INFANT implementation in your local government.
English and translated resources
Western Public Health Unit in collaboration with INFANT have translated the highly visual INFANT booklets into 6 priority languages: Arabic, Hindi, Punjabi, Simplified-Chinese, Urdu and Vietnamese. The booklets support mums, dads and carers with evidenced based feeding and play advice for babies aged 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age and have been carefully curated to complement the four INFANT group sessions. These translated resources are in an initial pilot phase and will be evaluated and refined over time.
INFANT set-up and training
The implementation of INFANT requires facilitators to have completed the INFANT training as this ensures access to evidence-based information and up to date resources.
INFANT set-up includes:
- Access to INFANT training: Training includes online self-directed training 6-8 hours in duration and refresher training every two years. Completion of training can contribute to Continuing Professional Development with some relevant professional associations.
- Trained facilitators will then have access to all INFANT content and resources to support delivery of INFANT group sessions.
- Delivery of INFANT according to the INFANT Facilitator Guide.
- Completion of a brief annual survey to report on program delivery (e.g. number of groups run). This contributes to the evaluation of the program.
The INFANT team offers you:
- Support for implementation via online resources and 1:1 support from the team.
- Evidence-based, contemporary INFANT program content and resources that reflect best practice.
- A Community of Practice for supporting shared learnings.
The INFANT team is available to provide support. If you have any questions about INFANT, email infant-study@deakin.edu.au.
Case studies
Some of the local government areas (LGAs) across Victoria who are currently implementing INFANT, have taken the time to share their experiences and implementation journey. These case studies depict INFANT implementation at time of development. You can read each story in detail by clicking on the pdf links here:
Summary and policy documents
These summary/ policy documents may be of use as internal briefings within organisations in the implementation decision making phase. The INFANT team are happy to provide any additional information or work with you to progress through to implementation. If there is any specific information or assistance you would like please don’t hesitate to contact us: infant-study@deakin.edu.au
FAQs
Getting started? Here are some frequently asked questions regarding getting started with implementing INFANT. Please feel free to get in touch with the INFANT team if you have any further queries e: infant-study@deakin.edu.au