Empowering Parental Caregivers

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The goal of this clinical trial was to learn about the feasibility and pilot outcome measures in caregivers of children with spinal cord injury who completed a 7-week problem-solving training web-based group. The main question it aims to answer is: What is the feasibility of a seven-week, occupational therapist-facilitated, web-based support group with problem-solving training for parental caregivers of children with SCI? Participants participated 1 time a week for seven weeks in a web-based group group: learning about the FOCUS problem-solving model applying positive coping and problem-solving strategies to current issues.

Official Title
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Empowering Parental Caregivers: A Virtual Support Group With Problem Solving Training for Parents/Guardians of Children With SCI/D

Conditions
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Caregivers

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: web-based group problem solving and coping training


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: one must be a parent or guardian of a child with a spinal cord injury or disorder, be that child's primary caregiver, and be 18 years or older. Exclusion Criteria: None

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Other
Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Single Group Intervention<br>7-week web-based group with problem solving training | Behavioral: web-based group problem solving and coping training<br>* The group included one-hour, weekly Zoom sessions, that were facilitated by an occupational therapy doctoral candidate (first author) for 7 consecutive weeks. During the first session, the candidate explained adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies and asked each participant to identify one adaptive coping strategy that they currently use and will continue to use in the future. The candidate then explained the FOCUS problem-solving approach. For each session afterward, the candidate presented a topic-related scenario for parents to identify an effective solution using the FOCUS steps (APA, 2011). Parent-chosen topics included recreation, assistive technology, motivating and advocating, physical activity, skin integrity, and adaptive fashion. The general process of the meetings is presented in Figure 1. After every meeting the candidate sent out a summary of resources that were discussed during the meeting, ultimately putting them all together in an Empowering Caregiver Guide.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Brief COPE | The Brief COPE is a 28-item self-report measure that determines the participants' styles of coping (Carver,1997). | Before the group began, 7 weeks after start of group | 
| Caregiver Self-Assessment Questionnaire | The Caregiver Self-Assessment Questionnaire is a brief, 18-question self-assessment that asks respondents to consider the impact of caregiving on their stress levels, physical body, and mental health (American Society for Geriatrics, 2015). | Before the group began 7 weeks after start of group | 
| Knowledge Check | The Knowledge Check was a measure developed by the research team with guidance from Obst and Porter's guide for school personnel (n.d.). The research team generated the items around three themes: general SCI knowledge, FOCUS problem-solving skills, and coping knowledge. | Before the group began 7 weeks after start of group | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Attendance | number of sessions attended | across the 7 weeks of the group | 
| Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-8 (CSQ-8) | The CSQ-8 is an eight-item standardized questionnaire that aims to understand the participants' general satisfaction with the sessions, developed by Attkisson & Greenfield (2004). It is a highly effective tool to measure client satisfaction with program contents and has high internal consistency (Attkisson & Greenfield, 2004). | at the end of the 7 weeks |