Engagement pipeline

As part of the Family Hubs Pregnancy Grant pilot, half of the grant recipients are randomly assigned to the ‘Navigator’ condition. These parents should receive a phone call from a Family Navigator soon after they are offered the grant. During this phone call, the Family Navigator tells the recipient about Family Hubs, describes the support available at Family Hubs that is relevant to them, and offers to schedule a time to meet the parent at their closest Hub for a tour (see Navigator Conversation Guide in our Toolkit for more details).

Overall, out of the grant recipients who are in the ‘Navigator’ condition, just over half (54.6%) have spoken with their Family Navigator on the phone and 15.8% had completed a Family Hubs tour.

Figure 6 shows the engagement pipeline for parents in the Navigator condition.

Engagement with the Family Navigator

Early data suggests that the Family Navigator outreach is well-received, though there are emerging challenges around how parents recognise and prioritise these contacts.

Overall, parents we surveyed and interviewed were positive about receiving a phone call from a Family Navigator. Of the survey respondents who had spoken with their Family Navigator, 85% reported that the conversation was either ‘helpful’ or ‘very helpful’ (Figure 7).

In interviews, parents frequently described the initial call positively:

However, the perceived value of the call depends on parents’ experiences and preferences. Parents who already had children were less likely to find the call personally helpful, but these parents say they still feel it is a valuable offer for others.

Among those who did not find the call useful, some interviewees talked about preferences for how they receive information, saying they would prefer to do their own research online. Parents’ varying preferences for how they receive information speak to the importance of multi-modal communications, combining phone calls with optional meetings, written communication, and accessible, easy-to-find information on the council’s website.

Barriers to engagement: timing and ‘mental load’

We heard from some parents who wanted to engage with the Family Navigator but felt they were not ready or did not have the time. Some parents reported missing calls or intentionally delaying the conversation until they felt better equipped to process the information. One interviewee noted:

Others noted that the call came at an inopportune time - for instance, during school holidays when parents were busy with older children at home.

Similarly, as shown in the engagement pipeline diagram above, some parents spoke with the Family Navigator over the phone and were interested in meeting, but were unable to attend due to illness and other life events:

For others, non-attendance was due to their pregnancy. This is to be expected, given that some grant recipients were quite far along in their pregnancy and either found it difficult to meet in person or had short-notice medical appointments to attend. Attendance rates may be higher if the tour were offered earlier in pregnancy, but this was not possible given the timing of data flows – see our Toolkit for more detail on this.

Together, these insights suggest that some parents may benefit from alternative options to engage - for example, having a Navigator recontact them a few weeks later, or after their baby is born.

Potential barriers to impact: information overload and recognition

In our survey, most parents who had not spoken to their Family Navigator said this was because the Navigator did not contact them. However, through our interviews, we spoke with some parents who selected this option in the survey, but they had in fact received the call - they said they did not understand who had called and why. Furthermore, 17% of survey respondents in the Navigator condition said they were unsure if they had spoken to their Family Navigator or not. As one parent explained:

For parents who have spoken to a Family Navigator but do not remember doing so, we may expect little impact from the Family Navigator offer. This is something we will explore further in our final evaluation report to better understand which groups are most likely to benefit from the outreach.

Family navigators’ perspectives

In our interviews with the family navigators, we heard that they overwhelmingly feel that parents appreciate and welcome the call:

Family navigators also reported that their work is facilitated by resources published in our Toolkit.

Together, the family navigators report that offering a service that they feel provides real value to parents and having the tools to do so makes the role feel rewarding.

The meeting and follow-up actions

Of the parents who did the Family Hub tour with a Family Navigator, they were generally very positive about the experience. One parent (Interviewee 2, pregnant with first child, navigator condition) described the Family Navigator as “very knowledgeable and very informative”, and the experience of attending the Family Hub tour as “relevant”.

Of the parents who attended a tour, meeting logs show that almost all committed to some follow-up action during the meeting. Most agreed to being recontacted by a Family Hub staff member postnatally. Around half scheduled an appointment with a benefits advisor. A smaller number signed up for antenatal classes. Some others also received practical help, such as support filling in benefits application forms or referrals to a baby bank.

More broadly, when we asked survey respondents if they intend to visit Family Hubs once their baby/babies were born, those in the Navigator condition were more likely to say ‘yes’ instead of ‘unsure’ compared with those who only received the grant.

Impact of navigator outreach on grant associations

The grant was intentionally labelled as a ‘Family Hubs Pregnancy Grant’, and sent from Camden Family Hubs, with the aim of creating a ‘halo effect’ for Family Hubs.

This association was more salient for survey respondents in the Navigator group. 70% of respondents in the Navigator condition correctly remembered that the grant came from Camden Family Hubs compared with 50% those who only received the grant but with no outreach from a Family Navigator.

Meeting the demand for more information about Family Hubs

In order to understand different avenues to access services, we asked survey respondents what they think the council should do to support families with young children. The most common theme that emerged was a request for more proactive information and reminders about what support is available to families, “as it can be overwhelming and information is never readily accessible” (survey respondent 5).

Survey respondents suggested a number of different formats, including emails and letters, advertising, phone calls to new mothers, and “simple, quick, clear” messaging. Others expressed confusion that they thought they had to “become a member” or pay to access Family Hub services.

From what parents have told us so far, this suggests that family navigators may play an important role in spreading information about what is on offer and addressing misconceptions.