NCT01473511

Strongest Families Ontario (Formerly the Family Help Program)

Delivering Intervention for Pediatric Behaviour Problems at a Distance: a Randomized Trial of Strongest Families Ontario

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 172 (actual)
• Sponsor: IWK Health Centre · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 6 Years – 12 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Strongest Families (formerly Family Help)is an evidence-based, distance health education model for families who have children with behavioural difficulties. The principal research question is "Does Strongest Families, a 12-week, home-based program of interactive readings, instructional videos, homework projects, and weekly "coaching" telephone calls out perform the care families typically experience when referred to a mental health service?". The investigators hypothesize that children randomized to Strongest Families intervention will show a significantly greater reduction in externalizing behaviour problems than those randomized to a Control (usual care). In addition, parents randomized to Family Help will report a greater improvement in parenting skills and a greater reduction in symptoms of emotional distress (i.e., feeling of anxiety, depression, and stress) than parents in the Control condition. Finally, families randomized to Family Help will use fewer mental health services than Controls.

Detailed description

Our project is designed to help families and children with mild or moderate symptoms early, before problems become worse and more difficult to treat. The Strongest Families Program is a distance parenting program that was developed at the Centre for Research in Family Health at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Most families are able to manage these problems if they are given the skills to do so. The Strongest Families "Parenting the Active Child" Distance Program is done over the telephone; families do not have to travel to a centre to receive help. This program includes a handbook, videos and weekly phone calls between the parent and non-professional'coach'. The coach provides support to families, answer questions and guide parents as they learn the skills. Strongest Families has helped hundreds of families in Nova Scotia.

Conditions

• Oppositional Defiant Disorder
• Behaviour Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Strongest Families Intervention (formerly Family Help)	Distance HEALTH education intervention focussed on skill learning for parents

Timeline

• Start date: 2010-02-01
• Primary completion: 2015-02-01
• Completion: 2015-12-01
• First posted: 2011-11-17
• Last updated: 2016-09-02

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada