Evaluation of the "Health Friendly" Program to Reduce Children's Fear of the Healthcare Environment.
Condition: Fear
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel intervention that
      involved contact interaction with a simulated healthcare space to reduce medical fear in
      children in infant class. The main question it aims to answer is: • Will the Health Friendly
      Program, based on the interaction with a simulate healthcare space, reduce medica fear among
      children in infant class? Participants will participate in the Health Friendly Program that
      will consist of showing the children different scenarios that simulated various medical
      contexts, letting them experiment with the material and ask questions. Researchers will
      compare two groups (intervention group and control group) to see if there exist differences
      between both groups in their responses to the Child Medical Fear Scale.
    

Detailed description: 
      Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a novel intervention that involved
      contact interaction with a simulated healthcare space to reduce medical fear among children
      in infant class.

      Methods: This was an experimental study involving 86 children divided into an intervention
      group and a control group with pre and post measurements. The intervention, known as the
      Health-Friendly Programme, consisted of showing children various scenarios that simulated
      different medical contexts so that they were able to get involved in them, experiment with
      the materials and ask questions. Medical fear was evaluated using the Spanish version of the
      revised version of the "Child Medical Fear Scale", which scored fear between 0 and 34 points.
      The pre-test and post-test levels of medical fear in the intervention and control groups were
      compared with the Student's t test.
    

Intervention name(s): Health Friendly Program
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): The intervention, known as the Health-Friendly Programme, took place at the Clinical Skills and Simulation Centre of the Public University of Navarre. The intervention consisted of showing the children different scenarios that simulated various medical contexts, letting them experiment with the material and ask questions.
The structure and content of the intervention were intended to address two main issues. First, the health contexts with which school-age children may come into contact with; these are a consultation at a health centre and a hospital room. Second, the concerns, in relation to intrapersonal, procedural, environmental and interpersonal aspects, experienced by children when they interact with health care professionals or they are sick.
As reference material, the intervention is described in detail in the guide about the Health-Friendly Programme (Escalada-Hernández et al., 2021).
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Sequential Assignment
Intervention model description: Cluster randomized controlled trial with an intervention group (IG) and a control group (CG) with pre- and post-measurements
Masking: Triple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator)
Primary purpose: Other
Keywords: Medical Fear; Children; Health Education; Simulated Healthcare Spaces