PACT Programme for Parents of Children With SHCN

Launched by CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG · Jul 18, 2022

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

The PACT Programme trial is studying a new support program designed for parents of children with special health care needs, such as those with urologic, gastrointestinal, or developmental disorders. This program lasts for 12 weeks and uses smartphone technology to help parents improve their coping skills, parenting abilities, and family relationships. The goal is to see if this program can also boost the mental well-being of both parents and their children over the course of a year.

To take part in this study, parents must be Cantonese-speaking residents of Hong Kong, living with a child aged 3 to 8 who has special health care needs, and have daily access to a smartphone. The study is currently looking for participants, and it’s important to note that parents with severe mental health issues or developmental disabilities are not eligible to join. Participants will receive positive parenting advice and will be guided through the program via their smartphones, making it a convenient way to get support.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents
• • Living together with the child who is at preschool/school-age (3-8 years old)
• • Caregivers who adopted the responsibility of taking care of the child,
• • has daily access to their iPhone and Android smartphones.
• • In addition, potential eligible parents who respond "yes" to any of the five validated screening questions in the Children with Special Health Care Needs (SHCN) Screener (see https://www.childhealthdata.org/docs/cshcn/technical-summary-of-cshcn-screener.pdf) will then be asked the associated follow-up questions to determine whether the child possesses physical, neurodevelopmental/emotional problem(s) that has lasted for at least 12 months. Only children with a positive response(s) to ≥ 1 item in each of the associated follow-up questions will be classified as children with SHCN.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Parents who have diagnoses of severe mental illness or developmental disabilities, such as intellectual disabilities