Developing a social and emotional wellbeing intervention using the early childhood education and care environment: an Intervention Mapping approach

The aim of this paper was to describe how Intervention Mapping Steps 1-4 were used to develop the My Sensory Experience Resource (MSER) to support children's social and emotional wellbeing through the environment. Empirical evidence, behaviour change theory, and stakeholder feedback were combined to co-design MSER for the early childhood education and care sector using the first four steps of the Intervention Mapping framework. First, a thorough needs assessment was conducted to inform a logic model of the problem and define the intervention goals. Second, outcomes, performance objectives and change objectives were outlined at individual, interpersonal and organizational levels. Third, a practical resource was developed by mapping behaviour change theories to the resource components. Finally, relevant health knowledge was translated into the materials and resources, labelled as MSER, for educators, teams and organizations. MSER strengths, limitations and future directions are discussed.