Clinical trial NCT03684382: Narrative E-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for Parents of Children With Chronic Life-Threatening Illness
Official title: Development and Evaluation of a Narrative E-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for Parents of Children With Chronic Life-Threatening Illness
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Parent of Child With Chronic Life-threatening Illness
Keywords: anticipatory grief intervention
randomized controlled trial
narrative therapy
therapist-facilitated e-counselling
Lead sponsor: Nanyang Technological University
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: KK Women's and Children's Hospital
name: Club Rainbow Singapore
name: Muscular Dystrophy Association Singapore
name: Rare Disorders Society Singapore
First posted: 2018-09-25
Enrollment: 66
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 21
Maximum age (years): 99
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Participants who have completed the online consent form, affirmed their study participation and completed the baseline assessments are then randomly allocated to either the NeW-I group or the control group via the online NeW-I platform that is developed for the purpose of this study. Such random assignment reduces the potential of bias.
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: Narrative e-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) is an evidence-based, strength-focused and meaning-oriented approach that aims at enhancing well-being, alleviating burden, and reducing adverse grief outcomes among Singaporean parents caring for a child with chronic life-threatening illness. In collaboration with KK Women's and Children's Hospital and Club Rainbow Singapore, a pilot randomized controlled trial with a built-in qualitative evaluation and feasibility study will be carried out to assess the efficacy of the therapist-facilitated NeW-I protocol and platform among a purposive sample of 66 participants. The findings generated will form the foundation for a full-scale RCT for advancing paediatric palliative care and parental bereavement support.

Detailed description: Background: Conventional grief support interventions for parents whose children are suffering from a chronic life-threatening illness often begin only after the child's death. Despite robust evidence which shows that pre-loss interventions that enhance death preparedness can alleviate psychological distress and prevent adverse grief outcomes among family caregivers of dying patients, there is no known program designed specifically to address the psycho-emotional-spiritual needs of parents facing child loss. And while the National Strategy for Palliative Care in Singapore aims to promote holistic end-of- life care services to patients and their caregivers, vast inadequacy continues to exist in the support provided to parents caring for a dying child in the local context.

Objective and Methods: A novel therapist-facilitated, online intervention is conceived to fill this critical service gap. Adopting an evidence-based approach, the research team has developed a strength-focused and meaning-oriented Narrative e-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for parents anticipating the death of their child due to a chronic life-threatening condition. The design of NeW-I is informed by an existing body of research (i.e. international systematic review and local qualitative inquiry) that critically examines the lived experience of bereaved parents of children with life- limiting illnesses. NeW-I will be implemented in Singapore in collaboration with KK Women and Child's Hospital and Club Rainbow Singapore. A pilot Randomized Control Trial (RCT) with a built-in accessibility and feasibility study will examine the efficacy of the NeW-I therapeutic protocol for enhancing quality of life, spiritual wellbeing, hope and perceived social support, as well as reducing depressive symptoms, caregiver burden and anticipatory grief among a purposive sample of 66 participants.

Significance: NeW-I aspires to enhance quality of life, spiritual well-being, hope and sense of social support, as well as alleviating depressive symptoms, caregiving burden, and adverse grief outcomes among Singaporean parents facing the terminal illness and eventual death of their sick child. The findings generated will form the foundation of a full-scale RCT for advancing holistic paediatric palliative care and parental bereavement support locally and around the world.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Mother or father whose child has been diagnosed with a chronic life-threatening illness between the ages of 0-19 years, with a prognosis of more than 3 months since time of study participation so as to ensure successfully completion of all intervention components before child's death.
* Able to speak, read and write in English, as well as to provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Cannot provide informed consent
* Suffering from severely high levels of depressive symptoms, anxiety and psychological distress (i. e. score of 19 or higher on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) or score of 29 or higher on Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10))

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in scores on Kemp Quality of Life Scale (KQOL) from baseline
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after completion of the intervention/control protocol, one month post intervention/control protocol, three months post intervention/control protocol, six months post intervention/control protocol.
measure: Change in scores on Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp-12) from baseline
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after completion of the intervention/control protocol, one month post intervention/control protocol, three months post intervention/control protocol, six months post intervention/control protocol.
measure: Change in scores on Herth Hope Index (HHI) from baseline
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after completion of the intervention/control protocol, one month post intervention/control protocol, three months post intervention/control protocol, six months post intervention/control protocol.
measure: Change in scores on Inventory of Social Support (ISS) from baseline
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after completion of the intervention/control protocol, one month post intervention/control protocol, three months post intervention/control protocol, six months post intervention/control protocol.
measure: Change in scores on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) from baseline
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after completion of the intervention/control protocol, one month post intervention/control protocol, three months post intervention/control protocol, six months post intervention/control protocol.
measure: Change in scores on Burden Scale for Family Caregivers-Short Version (BSFC-s) from baseline
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after completion of the intervention/control protocol, one month post intervention/control protocol, three months post intervention/control protocol, six months post intervention/control protocol.
measure: Change in scores on Brief Grief Questionnaire (BGQ) from baseline
timeFrame: Baseline, immediately after completion of the intervention/control protocol, one month post intervention/control protocol, three months post intervention/control protocol, six months post intervention/control protocol.
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Singapore
country: Singapore
facility: Club Rainbow Singapore
city: Singapore
country: Singapore
facility: KK Women's and Children's Hospital
city: Singapore
country: Singapore
facility: Muscular Dystrophy Association Singapore
city: Singapore
country: Singapore
facility: Rare Disorders Society Singapore
Study officials:
References:
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citation: Siebens HC, Tsukerman D, Adkins RH, Kahan J, Kemp B. Correlates of a Single-Item Quality-of-Life Measure in People Aging with Disabilities. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2015 Dec;94(12):1065-74. doi: 10.1097/PHM.0000000000000298.
citation: Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, Low XC, Tan THB, Ganapathy S, Car J, Ho RM, Miao CY, Ho AHY. Acceptability and feasibility of a pilot randomized controlled trial of Narrative e-Writing Intervention (NeW-I) for parent-caregivers of children with chronic life-threatening illnesses in Singapore. BMC Palliat Care. 2022 Apr 29;21(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s12904-022-00945-0.
citation: Ho AHY, Dutta O, Tan-Ho G, Tan THB, Low XC, Ganapathy S, Car J, Ho RM, Miao CY. A Novel Narrative E-Writing Intervention for Parents of Children With Chronic Life-Threatening Illnesses: Protocol for a Pilot, Open-Label Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 Jul 5;9(7):e17561. doi: 10.2196/17561.