Clinical trial NCT02522507: A Peer E-mentoring Intervention to Improve Employment
Official title: A Peer E-mentoring Intervention to Improve Transition to Employment for Youth With Physical Disabilities
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Cerebral Palsy
Spina Bifida
Juvenile Arthritis
Spinal Cord Injury
Muscular Dystrophy
Physical Disability
Lead sponsor: Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Ability Online
name: University of Toronto
name: The Hospital for Sick Children
name: University of Ottawa
name: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
First posted: 2015-08-13
Enrollment: 44
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 15
Maximum age (years): 25
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: Despite the strong business case of hiring people with disabilities, a significant proportion of youth with disabilities leave high school and neither work nor continue their education and are unprepared to meet the demands of a work environment. Although youth with disabilities have much to gain from employment readiness programs, they are often excluded from, or have limited access to school and community vocational programs. One encouraging approach to address gaps in vocational programming is through peer mentoring, which may facilitate a smoother transition to adulthood by offering support to enhance coping skills. Despite the increase in online communities, little is known about their impact on vocational mentoring for youth with physical disabilities and their parents. The purpose of this study is to develop, implement and assess the feasibility of an online peer mentor employment readiness intervention for youth with physical disabilities and their parents to improve their self-efficacy, career maturity and social support.

Detailed description: Our primary OBJECTIVE is: (1) to develop, implement and assess the feasibility of an online peer mentor employment readiness intervention for youth with physical disabilities and their parents to improve their self-efficacy, career maturity and social support.

A mixed methods feasibility randomized controlled trial design will be conducted to develop and assess the usability of "Empowering youth towards Employment" intervention. Youth (aged 15-25) with physical disabilities and their parents will be randomly assigned to a control or experimental group (12-week, interactive intervention, moderated by peer mentors). A qualitative thematic analysis will be conducted to analyze the content of discussion forums. Interviews with youth, parents and mentors will also be conducted about their experiences in the intervention.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion criteria for youth participants:

* Able to read/write in English;
* A diagnosed physical disability (i.e., cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spinal cord injury etc.); (4) currently enrolled in or have completed a high school diploma in the applied / academic stream (to screen for cognitive impairment);
* Aged 15-25;
* Have access to a computer and internet;
* Have no paid work experience.

Inclusion criteria for Parents:

* Are the parent of a youth meeting above inclusion criteria
* Can read/write in English
* Have access to a computer with Internet

Exclusion Criteria:

* Recently completed or currently participating in another employment readiness or peer support intervention.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in career maturity inventory--attitude scale (CMI-AS)
timeFrame: baseline (1-week pre-study arm 1), 12 weeks (post-study arm 1)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in family empowerment scale
timeFrame: baseline (1-week pre-study arm 1), 12 weeks (post-study arm 1)
measure: Change in multi-dimensional scale of perceived social support
timeFrame: baseline (1-week pre-study arm 1), 12 weeks (post-study arm 1)
measure: Change in Arc's self-determination scale
timeFrame: baseline (1-week pre-study arm 1), 12 weeks (post-study arm 1)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Toronto
country: Canada
facility: Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
state: Ontario
Study officials:
References:
citation: Lindsay S, Cagliostro E, Leck J, Stinson J. A 12-Week Electronic Mentoring Employment Preparation Intervention for Youth With Physical Disabilities: Pilot Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2019 Mar 29;2(1):e12088. doi: 10.2196/12088.
citation: Lindsay S, Cagliostro E, Stinson J, Leck J. A 4-Week Electronic-Mentoring Employment Intervention for Youth With Physical Disabilities: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Pediatr Parent. 2019 Apr 24;2(1):e12653. doi: 10.2196/12653.
citation: Lindsay S, Stinson J, Stergiou-Kita M, Leck J. Improving Transition to Employment for Youth With Physical Disabilities: Protocol for a Peer Electronic Mentoring Intervention. JMIR Res Protoc. 2017 Nov 16;6(11):e215. doi: 10.2196/resprot.8034.