HELP Pain Training Program

Engaging School Providers to Manage Student Pain in Michigan Schools

The aim of this project is to develop and test the Helping Educators Learn Pediatric Pain Assessment & Intervention Needs (HELP Pain) program. HELP Pain provides training for school providers (e.g., school nurses, mental health professionals) on strategies to assess and manage pain-related concerns in school children. Participants will learn cognitive behavioral therapy techniques to help school children manage pain, and report on their use of strategies, and child's progress throughout the school year. Follow-up data will be collected in year 2.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: HELP Pain Training Program

Detailed Description

Chronic pain is common among school children, and impacts social, emotional and academic functioning. School providers are often tasked with addressing student pain, but may have limited training in evidence-based pain management strategies. Thus, the PI developed a training program, HELP Pain, to train school providers, such as school nurses and mental health professionals, in cognitive behavioral therapy strategies for addressing student pain. In this study, the feasibility and acceptability of the training program will be evaluated. Provider knowledge will be evaluated before and after receiving the HELP Pain training. Further, the use of HELP Pain strategies with students and their associated disability and pain outcomes will be evaluated. Results will help to tailor the HELP Pain training program for future use.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 68

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Michigan
    • Grand Rapids, Michigan, United States, 49503
      • Michigan State University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Providers (nurses and mental health professionals) serving Michigan schools.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• engaged as a school provider in Michigan

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Observational Models: Cohort
• Time Perspectives: Prospective

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Health Department of Northwest Michigan; School providers (school nurses, mental health specialists) from the Health Department of Northwest Michigan.	Other: HELP Pain Training Program; A training program to teach school providers nonpharmacologic (e.g., cognitive behavioral and mindfulness meditation) strategies to use with students with pain symptoms.
Michigan Association of School Nurses; School providers (nurses) from the Michigan Association of School Nurses.	Other: HELP Pain Training Program; A training program to teach school providers nonpharmacologic (e.g., cognitive behavioral and mindfulness meditation) strategies to use with students with pain symptoms.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Feasibility - Qualitative report	Implementation success of the program measured by a semi-structured qualitative interview method which addresses feasibility.	9 months
Acceptability - Qualitative report	Implementation success of the program measured by a semi-structured qualitative interview method which addresses acceptability.	9 months
Appropriateness - Qualitative report	Implementation success of the program measured by a semi-structured qualitative interview method which addresses appropriateness.	9 months
Implementation Success - Quantitative report	Twelve psychometrically validated items to assess program implementation success, will be administered after training. Providers will rate items with responses using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5).	9 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Knowledge	Knowledge quiz scores before and after training, 0-20, where 20 indicates higher knowledge.	9 months
Fidelity	Self-reported use of HELP Pain strategies with students via online survey.	9 months, 2 years
Self-report Knowledge	Self-reported agreeableness using a 5-point Likert scale from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5) to 3 statements indicating knowledge from the program.	9 months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Child Functional Disability Inventory (FDI)	Administration of the FDI to students is optional. The FDI is used to assess impairment due to pain over the past several days, and uses a Likert scale (0-4) to result in a score 0-60, where 60 implies decreased functioning.	9 months, 2 years
Child Pain Ratings - Numerical Scale	Administration of the child pain ratings to students is optional. Highest, lowest, average and current pain over the past week are reported by a child to the provider using a numerical scale. The numerical scale is 0-10, with 10 indicating worse pain.	9 months, 2 years
Child Pain Ratings - Faces Scale	Administration of the child pain ratings to students is optional. Highest, lowest, average and current pain over the past week are reported by a child to the provider using a faces scale. The faces scale contains 6 faces with scores of 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, or 10 respectively from left to right, where the rightmost face or score of 10 indicates worse pain.	9 months, 2 years
Child School Attendance	Reporting of a child's school attendance is optional. School attendance, late arrivals, and early dismissal in one month (due to pain or other reasons), and school nurse visits for pain or other reasons (scheduled and unscheduled) as reported by the school provider specific to a child.	9 months, 2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Michigan State University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Natoshia R Cunningham, Ph.D., Michigan State University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 25, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Estimated): July 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: November 29, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 13, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): January 26, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 19, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 18, 2024
• Last Verified: April 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Pain; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; School Providers
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00007400

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No