Family Networks (FaNs) for Kids
A supportive network that uses technology to train families and caregivers who have a child with special needs, including developmental disorders—closing care gaps and reducing stigma by organising families into potentially self-sustaining networks that improve care and advocate for children’s needs.
Who we are
Family Networks (FaNs) for Kids is a supportive network that uses technology to train families and caregivers who have a child with special needs including development disorders to help them care better for their children. FaNs aims at breaking down stigma and closing the care gap for children with developmental disorders in rural areas of Pakistan. FaNs does this by organising, training and empowering the families of affected children into potentially self-sustaining networks who are able to care for their own children and advocate for their needs to the community and the health system.
Where it was tested
This model of service delivery was developed, implemented and evaluated in rural community settings of sub-district Gujar Khan (population of ~1 million), in Rawalpindi Pakistan.
- Supervised delivery through trained Family Volunteers
- Community-based approach built for low-resource settings
- Designed to be replicable and scalable
Problem
Developmental Disorders is an umbrella term which includes intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorders. Developmental disorders usually onset in childhood and effects impairment, and causes delayed functioning related to nervous system maturation. Children with intellectual disabilities may experience delayed milestones and functional challenges in self-care, communication, and social understanding. These disorders are more prevalent in Lower- and Middle-Income Countries where families often lack access to healthcare services—raising the burden on families and reducing quality of life.
In Pakistan, over 6% of children suffer from a developmental disorder. Specialist services are rare, concentrated in urban areas and inaccessible to the majority of the targeted population. Stigma and discrimination are considerable—resulting in a treatment gap in rural Pakistan that is almost 100%.
Solution
FaNs leverages the power of families’ support and technology to deliver care in low resource settings. The network approach ensures support and quality care for the child internal to the family, whilst also building a voice for marginalized families against external stigma and exploit the use of technology to train non-specialists in delivering evidence-informed caregivers’ skills training program at-scale.
This technology-assisted, brief, multicomponent parents’ skills training intervention, delivered through family volunteers, is effective to improve quality of life of caregivers of children with developmental disorders and is a potentially cost-effective way of closing the near 100% care gap for children with developmental disorders in Pakistan.
Results from implementation & evaluation
The program was successful in establishing 70 potentially self-sustaining Family Networks, consisting of 36 trained ‘Family Volunteers’ working under supervision of specialists, delivering a brief, multicomponent parents’ skills training program to 270 families of children with developmental disorders. A community-based cluster randomized controlled trial evaluation indicated that there was a significant improvement in ‘Quality of Life’ of caregivers of children with developmental disorders living in low resource settings of rural Pakistan.
Training
Families are trained using an interactive tablet digital tool based on mhGAP guidelines, presenting real life scenarios on psycho-education, parent skills training, physical health, parental stress, community participation, stigma and rights. The training narrates the lives of three avatar children to support discussion, role play, and problem-solving.
Champion Families
Once trained, families become ‘champions’ and are empowered to provide peer-supervision to 5–7 other families from their village, meeting regularly to support each other in managing their children. Champions are supervised by health specialists once a month.
Empowering the Network
Network members are supported to become an active group within the community. They campaign together for better facilities for the children in local schools and primary health care centers, and push to improve participation in community life.
How HAT contributes to scalable models like FaNs
Health Applications of Technology (HAT) enables technology that strengthens training delivery, supports non-specialist workflows, and helps scale evidence-informed interventions in low-resource settings—so programs can reach families at the community level while maintaining structure and quality.