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I'm an author of child-development books and spend a lot of time keeping abreast of research-backed parenting advice, so this is really interesting to me. It s

by jawns 7y ago

I'm an author of child-development books and spend a lot of time keeping abreast of research-backed parenting advice, so this is really interesting to me. It seems like you need to position this service very carefully, since there is likely not a bright line between some of the issues parents might come to you for, versus seeing a pediatrician, behavioral health provider, or other health care provider. And indeed, traditionally that's where parents would go with some of these issues (sleep issues, tantrums, etc.). But your FAQs emphasize that you're not a health care service -- yet I wouldn't be surprised if parents rely on you to at least bring up when a health care provider should be brought into the loop. Just out of curiosity, what would you say this service is intended to replace? Are your prospective subscribers people who would otherwise be reading books, poring through Internet advice, consulting friends and pediatricians, etc., and this service just saves them time versus the DIY alternative? Or are you courting people who have no idea how to do that stuff and their alternative is just suffering through it as best they can?

eba7keb 7y ago
Lots of great thoughts here, thank you for sharing them. The line between parent support and parent coaching and behavioral health requires great care in navigation - I agree with you. Before I started Trustle, I worked both as a child psychologist in a traditional capacity, and provided video-based parent coaching. There are a LOT of parent support organizations that don't use credentialed providers because of the nuances here - and many parent coaches don't have any credentials in the space. I think instead that the licensed providers should be in the space of provided remote support, for many reasons, but also because they know when a referral for more intensive support is needed. Having licensed professionals helps to ensure that we refer when we need to. And, we often work with parents who have in-person therapists as an additional support. I think the service replaces parents who turn to google searches, facebook groups, and blogs for advice. This advice isn't always evidence-based, and it can't be tailored to the family. Zero to three reported from their national survey that 84% turn to articles specifically aimed at helping parents, but only 49% find them helpful.Parents do want guidance from child development professionals. 54% of parents say they would like information from a “special web site or blog from child development experts.” Additionally, 63% of parents overall say “I am skeptical of people who give parenting advice and recommendations if they don’t know my child and my situation specifically.” And this instinct is right. Trustle aims to fill this need. Also, as a child psychologist, I spent SO much time speaking to friends and family who wanted support (and to know which advice was evidence-based), but the challenge didn't call for a professional (potty training, typical tantrums, etc). I would love to hear more about what you think!
- zoomablemind 7y ago
  Would your experts 'diagnoze' a child based solely on parent's presentation of issue the child/family is experiencing? In simple cases this may be reasonable, but such common issue as tantrums may be deep and multifaceted. This brings another aspect of the responsiblity of your experts for giving any corrective advice to the parent. What is the ethical balance between giving a wrong advice vs. right advice that didn't work?
  - tomsayer 7y ago
    Great questions! On the first, we're very cautious; we do not do diagnosis. What we do do is support parents in seeking out a diagnosis if that was the appropriate path. Our experts have all either done diagnosis or facilitated them in the past so they're good and knowing when to suggest that. The balance is in making sure we don't give parents a false confidence, but we find that the pairing of an expert with the family is much more effective than a parent wondering on their own. On the second point, let me know if I misunderstood, but our goal is to give the right advice. We know that it won't always work and often that will be due to the unique nature of the specific family. Sometimes we will just get it wrong; we have a very rigorous selection process for the coaches and strong QA and ongoing support so we hopefully don't get it wrong very often. But we know we won't be perfect.
    - zoomablemind 7y ago
      A wrong advice may be furnished on insufficient detail of the presented issue, or a biased assessment as could be the case with parent only observation. Yet the effect of such advice will be directed at the child. > ...we have a very rigorous selection process for the coaches and strong QA... What is your QA approach? How do you tell a right expert advice from an insufficiently right?
      - tomsayer 7y ago
        We do lots of things, but one of the most important steps is an in-depth role-play where we go through numerous scenarios. We're not just looking for the knowledge (which given their qualifications and experience they should have) but also for their ability to use that knowledge in the context of a parent's own goals and philosophy. If someone brought their own philosophy or values, and not just their experience and expertize, then we wouldn't bring them on.

by jawns 7y ago

eba7keb 7y ago

Lots of great thoughts here, thank you for sharing them. The line between parent support and parent coaching and behavioral health requires great care in navigation - I agree with you. Before I started Trustle, I worked both as a child psychologist in a traditional capacity, and provided video-based parent coaching. There are a LOT of parent support organizations that don't use credentialed providers because of the nuances here - and many parent coaches don't have any credentials in the space. I think instead that the licensed providers should be in the space of provided remote support, for many reasons, but also because they know when a referral for more intensive support is needed. Having licensed professionals helps to ensure that we refer when we need to. And, we often work with parents who have in-person therapists as an additional support. I think the service replaces parents who turn to google searches, facebook groups, and blogs for advice. This advice isn't always evidence-based, and it can't be tailored to the family. Zero to three reported from their national survey that 84% turn to articles specifically aimed at helping parents, but only 49% find them helpful.Parents do want guidance from child development professionals. 54% of parents say they would like information from a “special web site or blog from child development experts.” Additionally, 63% of parents overall say “I am skeptical of people who give parenting advice and recommendations if they don’t know my child and my situation specifically.” And this instinct is right. Trustle aims to fill this need. Also, as a child psychologist, I spent SO much time speaking to friends and family who wanted support (and to know which advice was evidence-based), but the challenge didn't call for a professional (potty training, typical tantrums, etc). I would love to hear more about what you think!

zoomablemind 7y ago
Would your experts 'diagnoze' a child based solely on parent's presentation of issue the child/family is experiencing? In simple cases this may be reasonable, but such common issue as tantrums may be deep and multifaceted. This brings another aspect of the responsiblity of your experts for giving any corrective advice to the parent. What is the ethical balance between giving a wrong advice vs. right advice that didn't work?
- tomsayer 7y ago
  Great questions! On the first, we're very cautious; we do not do diagnosis. What we do do is support parents in seeking out a diagnosis if that was the appropriate path. Our experts have all either done diagnosis or facilitated them in the past so they're good and knowing when to suggest that. The balance is in making sure we don't give parents a false confidence, but we find that the pairing of an expert with the family is much more effective than a parent wondering on their own. On the second point, let me know if I misunderstood, but our goal is to give the right advice. We know that it won't always work and often that will be due to the unique nature of the specific family. Sometimes we will just get it wrong; we have a very rigorous selection process for the coaches and strong QA and ongoing support so we hopefully don't get it wrong very often. But we know we won't be perfect.
  - zoomablemind 7y ago
    A wrong advice may be furnished on insufficient detail of the presented issue, or a biased assessment as could be the case with parent only observation. Yet the effect of such advice will be directed at the child. > ...we have a very rigorous selection process for the coaches and strong QA... What is your QA approach? How do you tell a right expert advice from an insufficiently right?
    - tomsayer 7y ago
      We do lots of things, but one of the most important steps is an in-depth role-play where we go through numerous scenarios. We're not just looking for the knowledge (which given their qualifications and experience they should have) but also for their ability to use that knowledge in the context of a parent's own goals and philosophy. If someone brought their own philosophy or values, and not just their experience and expertize, then we wouldn't bring them on.