Facilitators delivering PwB in cycle one had recently been trained and were delivering the programme for the first time. In most cases, their participation in this pilot was on top of existing work commitments, which meant that their capacity to focus on the programme was limited. Most facilitators were also not used to delivering a digital programme and were learning how to use the PwB platform for the first time.

Through communication with facilitators and their line managers, as well as during supervision in cycle one, we learnt that facilitator engagement was affected by a number of factors. This mainly included various difficulties with the digital platform, reducing confidence in the programme. 

Facilitators found the platform difficult to navigate and often didn’t know where to go to complete tasks. Some facilitators reported in their feedback that they found the interface confusing and, therefore, found it difficult to complete tasks on the platform, such as booking calls or downloading clips. Facilitators were also unable to track their parents’ progress through the programme, which led to difficulties in following up with parents and, in turn, affected facilitators’ engagement. There was also a finite amount of protected time and capacity generally to deliver the programme alongside facilitators’ already busy workloads. This led to some delays in making contact with their assigned parents who had been assigned to them or struggling to maintain momentum with programme delivery, leading to some parental disengagement. 

There were different experiences in programme delivery across different local authority areas, with some facilitators delivering and completing the programme more easily than in others. This could be due to differences in facilitators’ capacity across the different local authorities and the possibility of them having protected time for delivering the programme within their roles.