Digital best start section and Introduction to age-related messaging section (#298)

Author: ralph-hawkins

app/age-related-messaging.md

@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+---
+layout: collection
+title: Age‑related messaging
+description: Sending timely advice to parents and guardians
+area: digital-best-start
+pagination:
+  data: collections.age-related-messaging
+  reverse: true
+  size: 50
+permalink: "age-related-messaging/{% if pagination.pageNumber > 0 %}page/{{ pagination.pageNumber + 1 }}{% endif %}/"
+---

app/age-related-messaging/2025/11/introduction-to-age-related-messaging/index.md

@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+---
+title: Introduction to age‑related messaging
+description: A new way of providing timely advice and guidance to parents and carers of infants
+date: 2025-11-17
+tags:
+  - age‑related messaging
+  - Digital Child Health
+  - Digital Best Start
+  - infants
+---
+
+Age‑related messaging is a project to send messages via the NHS App (and SMS) to parents of newborns.
+
+## Background
+
+It comes out of a piece of work that looked at how to support the Labour government’s commitment to “digitise the Red Book” record of children’s health, and improve support for new families
+
+This was under the umbrella of “Digital Child Health”, which has since been incorporated into the Digital Prevention Services Portfolio, under the name of Digital Best Start (DiBS).
+
+A discovery was carried out in late 2024, from which a series of use cases were formed. One of these use cases involves sending out age‑based, standardised communications to parents of newborns and infants.
+
+## Getting reliable information to parents
+
+Parents currently access information through NHS sources, health professionals, or peers and social media. However, searching online requires parents to be proactive and to know what to look for and when. Support from professionals is often tied to the timing of routine appointments and may not always be available when needed.
+
+## Extending the reach
+
+Services such as [Best Start in Life](https://www.nhs.uk/best-start-in-life/) show how timely guidance can be delivered directly to families, but current reach is just 1 to 2 percent of parents.
+
+As a result, many rely instead on informal or unverified sources. While often well‑intentioned, this advice can leave parents without the right knowledge, confidence, or timing to make evidence‑based decisions about their child’s care.
+
+There are also wider benefits to improving early health engagement for both families and services. For example, encouraging parents to register with a GP online saves around nine minutes of administrative time per registration compared with in‑person sign‑ups.
+
+## Messages based on the infant’s age
+
+To tackle this, a series of universal prompts will be sent to parents and carers at key stages, that signpost them to key jobs to be done and services relevant to their child. These include but are not limited to:
+
+- Register with a GP: Sent 7 days after birth, this message signposts users to the online GP registration journey, prompting them to register their child with a GP surgery.
+- Health visit reminder: Sent 9 days after birth, this message reminds users of an upcoming New Baby Review, and signposts them to NHS.UK content which explains the purpose of the visit.
+- 6 to 8 week check‑ups: Composed of 2 messages, sent 5 weeks after birth. The first message reminds the parent of an upcoming GP check‑up for their child, whereas the second reminds the parent of a postnatal check‑up with their GP. Both messages signpost the user to NHS.UK content about the check‑ups.
+- Weaning advice: Sent 4 and 6 months after birth, these messages signpost the user to clinically‑approved NHS.UK advice on when and how to wean their child.
+- Vitamin recommendations: Sent 6 months after birth, this message signposts users to clinically‑approved NHS.UK advice on vitamin supplements for their child.
+
+These notifications would be delivered at specific intervals in the neonatal and infancy stages of a child’s life, with the intention being to provide reminders to parents and carers at key stages, and signpost them to NHS services.
+
+The team is currently preparing a pilot of age‑related messaging.

app/age-related-messaging/age-related-messaging.json

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "layout": "post",
+  "eleventyNavigation": {
+    "parent": "Age‑related messaging"
+  }
+}

app/digital-best-start.md

@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+---
+layout: collection
+title: Digital best start
+description: Supporting parents, guardians, and their children – from conception to 5 years old.
+area: digital-best-start
+promote: true
+pagination:
+  data: collections.digital-best-start
+  reverse: true
+  size: 50
+permalink: "digital-best-start/{% if pagination.pageNumber > 0 %}page/{{ pagination.pageNumber + 1 }}{% endif %}/"
+---

app/digital-best-start/digital-best-start.json

@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+{
+  "layout": "post",
+  "eleventyNavigation": {
+    "parent": "Digital best start"
+  }
+}

app/index.njk

@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ groups:
     items: collections.personalised-prevention-area
     columns: 3
     type: "secondary"
+  - title: Digital best start
+    items: collections.digital-best-start-area
+    columns: 3
+    type: "secondary"
   - title: Reference
     items: collections.reference
     columns: 2

eleventy.config.js

@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ export default function (eleventyConfig) {
   })
 
   // Service area collections
-  for (const area of ['screening', 'vaccinations', 'personalised-prevention']) {
+  for (const area of ['screening', 'vaccinations', 'personalised-prevention', 'digital-best-start']) {
     eleventyConfig.addCollection(`${area}-area`, (collection) => {
       return collection
         .getAll()
@@ -112,7 +112,9 @@ export default function (eleventyConfig) {
     'nhs-health-check-online',
     'personalised-prevention-platform',
     'smoking-cessation',
-    'talking-therapies'
+    'talking-therapies',
+    // Digital best start
+    'age-related-messaging'
   ]) {
     eleventyConfig.addCollection(service, (collection) => {
       return collection.getFilteredByGlob(`app/${service}/**/*.md`)