Systems in practice · 2026

Digital parenting support in Peru

A cluster-randomized trial enrolled 2,461 caregiver-child pairs in rural Peru to compare digital parenting support, home visits and a control group. The digital intervention improved measured child development at around 2.5 years, at lower estimated provider cost than home visits. The trial tested one platform with onboarding support in one region; its findings do not establish a replacement for in-person care.

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Three panels compare digital intervention and home-visit effects on child development by maternal age, household assets and maternal education, with 95 percent confidence intervals. — Estimated subgroup effects on child-development scores, with 95% confidence intervals. Intervals are wide and overlapping; the trial was not powered to detect all subgroup differences. Original Figure 1, panels A–C.
Fink et al., Figure 1, DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aeb9403. Cropped from PDF page 5. Source · CC BY 4.0. Cropped the original PDF around the complete figure; rasterized without changing scientific content.
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Journal article

Digital support systems to improve child development in Peru: A cluster-randomized controlled open-label trial

Günther Fink, Dana Charles McCoy, Lena Jäggi, Kristen Hinckley, Andreana Castellanos, Maria Luisa Huaylinos Bustamante, Leonel Aguilar, Maria Catalina Gastiaburu Cabello, Milagros Alvarado, Sarah Farnsworth Hatch, Marta Dormal, Jorge Cuartas, Ce Zhang, Stella Hartinger Peña, Daniel Mäusezahl

Science Advances · 2026

Summary based on Publisher version, Science Advances 12:eaeb9403, 4 March 2026; institutional repository copy, PDF pages 1, 2, 5, 6.

DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aeb9403