A Tele-mental Health Intervention to Support Parents Caring for a Technology-dependent Child at Home

Completed · Not applicable

Conditions studied: Mental Fatigue

In brief

The need for assisted-technology at home reflects some of the most serious health-related conditions faced by children with physical and developmental disabilities. 'Technology-dependent' is often used in the literature to describe children "who need both a medical device to compensate for the loss of a vital body function and substantial and ongoing nursing care to avert death or further disability". Parenting a child is stressful and challenging, and even under ideal circumstances the care of a child with complex needs requires greater than normal parenting skills. Studies have showed that parents of children whose illness require assisted-technology experience significant emotional stress, potential gaps in social support, and social isolation leading to lower quality of life, unhealthy family functioning, and negative psychological consequences. This study intends to assess the feasibility and efficacy of a tele-psychotherapy (Tele-P) intervention as a way to promote the emotional functioning of parents and to help increase the quality of life of children that are technology-dependent in the Greater Boston Area. It is hypothesized that parents who adhere to psychotherapy sessions via videoconferencing (Tele-P) will demonstrate significant reductions in symptoms of depression, anxiety and social isolation. Children of parents in the (Tele-P) condition will show significantly greater improvements in their quality of life including their physical health, mental health, family life, free time, and general life enjoyment. A randomized controlled trial is proposed in order to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of a tele-psychotherapy intervention for parents of technology-dependent children at the Critical Care, Anesthesia and Perioperative Extension (CAPE) program in Boston Children's Hospital. This study will serve as model for social workers to perform an intervention for parent's raising technology-dependent children. This study proposes that tele-psychotherapy be a means of advocating for this underserved population.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03578289

Run by

Boston Children's Hospital

People needed

30

Starts

2017-06-01

Expected to finish

2019-04-20

Last updated by the study team

2019-11-22

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Parent of child cared for in the CAPE Program
• 18 years of age or older
• Lack of active mental health counseling
• English or Spanish speaking

You may not qualify if…

• History of psychosis in the past six months
• Receipt of any mental health treatment within the 3 months prior to study enrollment
• Future appointment with a mental health provider within the next two months and evidence of suicidal thoughts

Where it is running

• Boston Childrens Hospital — Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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