- As you answer daily quizzes sent to your LINE, you can learn the knowledge necessary for childcare.
- It provides an opportunity for fathers to participate in childcare and facilitates communication between the couple.
- E-learning materials for local governments and companies are also under development and can be used as part of local childcare support and welfare programs.
The "Papa Power Test" (hereafter referred to as "Papa Power Test") is a service that uses LINE to provide information on child-rearing. By answering the quizzes and reading the columns, users can naturally acquire knowledge about child-rearing. This service won a special award at the "BabyTech® Award Japan 2020 powered by DNP Dai Nippon Printing. The BabyTech.jp editorial staff interviewed Ms. Yukie Takahashi of Mama's Sachi LLC, the developer of the Papa Power Test, to learn more about the service, how it was developed, and its future development.
(We spoke to...)
Mama's Sachi LLC
Sachie Takahashi
Quizzes" and "explanations" created and supervised by experts help you acquire basic childcare knowledge.
Editorial:Thank you very much for your time today. Could you begin by giving us an overview of the Papa Power Certification Examination and its features?
Takahashi:The Papa Power Test is an information service in the form of a quiz that provides the basic knowledge necessary for childcare from the condition of postpartum mothers and newborns to 18 months of age, assuming that the user has no knowledge of childcare at all. In addition to information on child development, experienced paramedics, public health nurses, and pediatricians participated in the development of the Papa Power Test, so the service is characterized by its extensive knowledge of how to prevent accidents involving children and what to do in an emergency.
Editorial:I actually did the Dad Power Test and was really glad to get the knowledge on what to do in case of a child's life-threatening situation. It is a very common situation for a dad to be left alone with his child. ......
Takahashi:Parents may be anxious because there are so many things they do not understand, but if they have the knowledge of "what to do in such cases" even in a corner of their mind, they will still feel secure. The book includes content from the actual lifesaving training conducted by the supervising paramedic doctor, and covers how to stop bleeding, what to do in case of choking, and other topics such as CPR and tips for calling an ambulance. These life-saving quiz stages have been well received by the fathers who use this service.
In addition, many of the quizzes in the Papa Power Test were created by a veteran public health nurse who has been engaged in telephone childcare counseling for 25 years. Therefore, themes that many parents tend to worry about are incorporated into the quizzes and explanations, which I think is one of the features of the Papa Power Test.
Editorial:The Papa Power Test is also very familiar with the characters that appear. I have become a fan of "Musajii" from Musasabi. The quiz is in the form of one question sent to me on line every day, and so far I have answered all the questions correctly and "Musajijii" has praised me for it.
Takahashi:Some of you have commented that the newborn section of Stage 1 is easy for everyone and that you would like it to be more difficult. However, when you get to Stage 2 and Stage 3, quite a few of you stop recording all the correct answers.
Editorial:So well done as a quiz.
Takahashi:However, as a developer, we place more importance on the "explanations" than on the "quizzes. The quizzes may include answers that are correct or incorrect depending on the interpretation, but we ask that you forgive this for fun, and we would like you to look at the explanations. We have received comments from users such as "I really enjoy reading the explanations," and "The information in the explanations is very thorough and useful," and we feel that this was right on target.
Editorial:Indeed, the source of the information was clearly written, and the explanations were so very thorough that you had to scroll down the screen on line to read them.
Takahashi: When we started the service in November 2020, we were concerned that the explanations might be too long. However, when we asked the parents who were using the service, they told us that if it were on line, it would not be so difficult to scroll and read, so we decided on the current format.
Takahashi:There are serial columns such as "Letters from Senior Dads," "Four Comic Comics on Parenting," "Knowledge of Medicinal Herbs to Help Energize Dads and Moms," "Tips to Promote Brain Nurturing Development," and "Letters from Nursery School Teachers." However, quizzes are sent once a day on line, but the columns can be read by tapping the menu below the quiz. If the serialized columns are also sent on line like the quizzes, it will be hard for those who are satisfied with just the quizzes.
Editorial:It is true that if a variety of information is sent frequently on LINE, it may seem a bit burdensome.
Takahashi:We are very careful about the amount of content we provide per day, as we want everyone who uses our service to be able to do so easily and enjoyably.
Editorial:What is your content production structure?
Takahashi:The experts who have contributed to this project include a pediatrician, a public health nurse, a paramedic, a nutritionist who is also an expert in medicinal herbs, and a physical therapist. In addition to these experts, we have interviewed three to four nursery school teachers. We also have a cartoonist participating.
Bridging the information and awareness gap between fathers and mothers in childcare
Editorial:Could you tell us why you developed the Papa Power Test?
Takahashi:I originally worked for a publishing company editing study and practical books, but in 2020 I became independent and developed the Papa Power Test. One of the reasons for the development was my own experience. When my first son was 0 years old, I had a bit of a mental and physical imbalance because of all the things I didn't understand. During that period, I was searching for information on child-rearing on the Internet, but I was tired of searching itself. Then an image came to me of a service like the Papa Power Test, ......, where I could easily and enjoyably obtain expert knowledge and a sense of security. Around April or May of 2020, I talked to my husband about the idea of a Papa Power Test, and he said, "I think that would be great. He said "I think that would be great" and "I wanted to know more about childcare myself.
In fact, most of us become parents without having learned anything about parenting, so we are completely in the dark. If I had more knowledge, I would not be at the mercy of child-rearing and would be able to anticipate a bit further. My husband also said that once our oldest son was over 3 years old and the children's society began to expand, he made friends with other dads and became more comfortable with himself and started to enjoy himself, but until then he felt lonely because he had no knowledge and no one around him to talk to about child rearing. ......
My husband pushed me to think that it would be wonderful to provide knowledge and create a sense of security in this way, especially for fathers from the newborn period to about 2 years of age. It was then that I learned about the "BabyTech Award Japan 2020," and with that as a goal, development began.
Editorial:What were some of the challenges in developing the Papa Power Test?
Takahashi:The first thing to do was to develop the contents: in September 2021, we completed all the contents, including 250 quizzes and serialized columns, but it took us one year from the launch of the service in October 2020 to finally lay the foundation for the service. I was originally an analog person as an editor at a publishing company, so I had to do a lot of research on what I could do with LINE and the distribution functions while incorporating them into the service.
Editorial:What was the reason this service became the "Papa Power Test" instead of the "Mama Power Test"?
Takahashi:When a mother becomes pregnant, I believe that many mothers are able to start gathering information from that point on as "their own business". Therefore, when they give birth, they have gathered a good amount of information. On the other hand, fathers often start from the moment they see their own child after birth. That is why I thought it was necessary to bridge the gap in the amount of information and awareness of child-rearing between married couples. I believe that the most important thing is for couples to work together to raise their children. I also believe that doing so will ultimately support mothers.
As was the case with myself, I believe that even if mothers want their fathers to "do this" or "do that" during childcare, there are some aspects that cannot be fully conveyed. For example, even if it is just to tell a father that "there is a procedure for bathing the baby, and I have a lot of other work to do, so I want you to do it with me," if he is busy with childcare, he may not have the time or energy to do so, and may end up falling asleep without having the conversation or forgetting to tell his father. This is why the "Papa Power Test" was created. Therefore, the "Papa Power Test" includes explanations such as the fact that there are many steps involved in bathing and that it is very difficult to do it alone, so it would be nice if couples could work on it together.
The "Papa Power Test" has become a catalyst for communication between married couples.
Editorial:What kind of feedback have you received from users who are fathers and mothers who are in the midst of raising children between the ages of zero and one and a half years old right now?
Takahashi:Some said, "It was very helpful to be able to prepare just in time," "I was wondering if I should put socks on indoors, and it was very helpful that the content was delivered just in time." Others said, "It was great to know in order what I did not know," and "I will share it with my husband." Another commented, "I'm showing my dad the part about bathing, feeding, and changing diapers to help him understand." In other cases, couples who have finished raising their children are viewing the site while reminiscing about the old days.
Editorial:What is the ratio of moms to dads among those who use the service?
Takahashi:According to our survey results, 60% of the respondents were male and 40% were female.
Papa Power Test" is now an e-learning material for local governments and companies!
Editorial:Finally, can you tell us about your future plans?
Takahashi:As a corporate service, we would like to offer "e-learning" utilizing the contents of the Papa Power Test. We are creating something that is easy to work on, with a full range of videos, for use in parents' classes at local governments, training for postpartum sitters, for example, or as a support for childcare support in corporate welfare programs. This service will provide videos that make you feel close to your baby and gentle lectures on lifesaving methods, along with quizzes.
The name has been changed to "I Base+" in order to encourage mothers and working mothers who are about to take maternity or childcare leave to use the service, which will be launched in January 2022 as an e-learning service to build a base for childcare. I Base+ can be customized by adding original questionnaires. I would like to help create a better environment by first offering a trial service and providing close support.
Editorial:That is wonderful! I think this is a very attractive service for municipalities and companies that want to show that they are putting effort into their so-called welfare programs, and that they have a good environment for childcare.
After the interview
In fact, when we challenged the "Papa Power Test," even the reporter, whose child is already 3 years old, found a lot of knowledge that "I wish I had known this at that time ....... I believe that this kind of service is necessary to break out of the negative loop of "I don't do it because I don't understand" for fathers and "I'm too busy to tell you" for mothers in child-rearing. I would like to encourage all moms and dads in Japan to use this service.
Papa Power Test" official website of the company that manages the "Childcare Quiz Papa Power Test
https://www.mamasachi.jp/
Register on line for the Papa Power Test
https://lin.ee/Q0UomCT
