flight study for childhood chronic illness

Conditions: Chronic Illnesses, Multiple

Summary: the flight study is an open-label, single-arm, pilot and feasibility study of a personalized and multimodality intervention focusing upon modifiable lifestyle factors, environmental modifications, and transdisciplinary clinical care for children with chronic illness. a mixed methods outcomes evaluation will be performed. the primary goal of this study is to evaluate the most feasible and promising strategies to inform a more streamlined and scalable intervention in the future. up to 14 participants may be enrolled, but fewer are expected to achieve the primary goal of the study.


Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * at least one guardian must have the ability to read and write english * participant and participant's caregiver must reside in the united states and live within the designated recruitment areas * verified completion of the chirp survey and consent to participate in the flight study screening process * candidate's diagnosis(es) falls into one or more of the following categories: * immune/autoimmune conditions (for example: juvenile idiopathic arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, eczema, atopic illness, allergies, crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, other gastrointestinal disorders, lupus, other autoimmune conditions) * conditions of metabolic dysregulation (for example: obesity/type 2 diabetes) * mood/behavioral/developmental conditions (for example: autism spectrum disorders, adhd/add, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety) * candidate is able to provide sufficient documentation of diagnoses, including validated/standardized diagnostic criteria in current use by specialists for each respective diagnosis, which have been performed by a professional with requisite experience or training exclusion criteria: * candidate is a family member or close associate of any employees or board members of epidemic answers, members of the flight study team, or any advisors or clinicians associated with the flight study * candidate is not able to provide documentation for proof of diagnoses * diagnosis with a condition that is severe enough to preclude participation in the intensive, multi-modal lifestyle intervention * caregiver(s) with health (e.g., serious chronic disease, disability, addiction) or other life circumstances (e.g., lack of transportation, shared custody of child) that preclude full participation in the intensive intervention * external sources of environmental toxicants to the home or school environment that cannot be modified (e.g., high tension power line directly adjacent to home, coal-fired power plant within a ¼ mile of family's home) * inability to control/modify child's diet at daycare or with childcare provider * caregiver(s) anticipate a change of geographic location within two years * parent or caregiver has explicit belief that child's condition cannot be improved * caregiver(s) unwilling to make lifestyle changes, restrict candidate's non-essential technology use. prepare the majority of the family meals at home, replace personal and household products if indicated * caregiver(s) unwilling to have the candidate assessed by a team of doctors and/or healthcare practitioners including, but not limited to: physician, chiropractor, acupuncturist, optometrist, nutritionist, or other professionals recommend by the program * caregiver(s) unwilling to have the candidate participate in minimally invasive laboratory or non-laboratory assessments * caregiver(s) unwilling to have the candidate participate in required periodic video interviews, and other audio-visual documentation * candidate is pregnant * candidate has been convicted of a felony, is currently on probation, or in a juvenile detention center

Keywords: children chronic illness total allostatic load flight functional medicine environmental medicine lifestyle medicine root-cause medicine personalized medicine