The Family Talk Intervention When a Parent With Dependent Children or a Child is Severely Ill

August 27, 2024 updated by: Malin Lövgren, Ersta Sköndal University College

The Family Talk Intervention in Clinical Practice When a Parent With Dependent Children or a Child is Severely Ill: An Effectiveness-implementation Study

The overall aim of this study is to evaluate the effects and the implementation process of the Family Talk Intervention (FTI) in clinical practice when a child or a parent of dependent children has a life-threatening/life-limiting illness (cancer, neurological diseases, etc.). During 2021, FTI will be implemented in several different care contexts including a children's hospital and a university hospital in Sweden. Social workers will be educated in using the FTI in their clinical work. This study has a pre-post effectiveness-implementation hybrid design using mixed method. Data collection will be made using web-based questionnaires and interviews with families and social workers, and observations will be performed throughout the study.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The Family Talk Intervention (FTI), also called Beardslee's Family Intervention is a manual-based complex intervention and involves families who have children aged 6-18 years. The core elements are to support the families in talking about illness-related subjects, support the parents in understanding the needs of their children and how to support them, and support the families in identifying their strengths and how best to use them.

The overall aim of this trial is to evaluate the effects and the implementation process of FTI in clinical practice when a parent or a child has a life-threatening/life-limiting illness (cancer, neurological diseases, etc.). More specifically, to examine the effects of FTI regarding family communication and psychosocial health among family members (Aim 1) and describe facilitating factors and barriers for implementing FTI in everyday clinical practice (Aim 2).

The FTI has previously been pilot-tested in the context of specialized palliative home care with promising results. In pilot-tests, an assigned interventionist was used for intervention delivery, while in this continued trial, social workers will deliver the intervention as a part of their clinical work.

This trial has a pre-post effectiveness-implementation hybrid design using mixed method. It will be placed at a children's hospital and at a university hospital in Sweden and conducted by all social workers working there (n=25). Education of social workers in working with FTI will take place during 2021 and families will be invited to the project from April 2022 and until power has been reached. Data will be collected using web-based questionnaires and interviews with families and social workers, and observations will be performed throughout the study.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
150

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Sweden
      • Stockholm, Sweden, SE- 10061
        • Recruiting
        • Marie Cederschiöld University College
        • Contact:
        • Sub-Investigator:
          • Maja Holm, PhD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

2 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Families that include a child with a life-threatening/life-limiting illness.
  • 2-3 months should have passed since diagnosis or relapse.
  • <2 members of the family need to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

-

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Family Talk intervention
FTI entails six meetings, with intervals of 1-2 weeks between meetings. Meetings 1-2 include only the parent(s) and focus on their experiences of the situation, as well as the consequences of the diagnosis for each family member. The parent(s) will formulate the goal of the intervention. Meeting 3: Interviews will be held with each child and includes the child's life situation. Meeting 4 includes the parent(s) and focuses on planning the family meeting. The children's thoughts and questions serve as a guide for the upcoming family meeting. Meeting 5 is a family meeting and consists of questions and issues raised earlier by the family members. Meeting 6 is a follow-up with all family members. The meeting is guided by the family members' needs, e.g., regarding communication and parenting. If the intervention is interrupted unexpectedly and cannot be finished as scheduled due to extraordinary circumstances, extra meetings are available (Meetings 7-11).
Other: Family Talk Intervention
A psychosocial family-based intervention that is designed to give support to an entire family when a child has life-threatening illness.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changed family communication from Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale IV (FACES IV)
Time Frame: At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Measures family communication
At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Changed resilience for adults measured by the Resilience Scale (RS-14)
Time Frame: At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Measures psychosocial health for parents/guardians and for children aged 13 years and older
At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Changed resilience in children measured by the Resilience Scale for Children (RS-10),
Time Frame: At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Measures psychosocial health for children aged 8-12 years
At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Changed symptoms of pathologic grief measured by Prolonged Grief Disorder (PG-12)
Time Frame: At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Measures pre-death grief
At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
Time Frame: At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Measures anxiety in adults
At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Changed feelings of strength and weaknesses in children measured by The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
Time Frame: At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Measures self-perceived strength and weakness. Parent Proxy for children under 11 years.
At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Changed feelings of parental skill measured by the Parental Skill Questionnaire (SDQ)
Time Frame: At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Measures self-perceived parental skill
At baseline (before FTI starts), after the end of FTI/three months later (follow-up 1), and six months after that (follow-up 2).
Changed key mechanisms to promote and inhibit implementation measured by The Swedish Normalization Process Theory Measure (S-NoMAD)
Time Frame: At baseline (after FTI education), four months later (follow-up 1) and 12 months later (follow-up 2).
Characterizes and explains key mechanisms that promote and inhibit the implementation, embedding and integration of new health techniques, technologies and other complex interventions.
At baseline (after FTI education), four months later (follow-up 1) and 12 months later (follow-up 2).
Changed organizational context measured by Alberta Context Tool (ACT)
Time Frame: At baseline (after FTI education), four months later (follow-up 1) and 12 months later (follow-up 2).
Measures organizational context for use in complex healthcare settings.
At baseline (after FTI education), four months later (follow-up 1) and 12 months later (follow-up 2).

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Ersta Sköndal University College

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Malin Lövgren, PhD, Ersta Sköndal Bräcke University College

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 1, 2021

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
December 1, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
December 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 11, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 18, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 25, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 28, 2024

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 27, 2024

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • Marie Cederschiöld

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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