NCT06732297

Stronger Families Through Art Therapy: A Mixed Methods Programme Evaluation Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 96 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Nanyang Technological University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 7 Years – 99 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The current research aims to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the Strong Families Through Art Therapy (SFAT) programme, which was developed to improve the parent-child relationship in vulnerable families. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Is the programme effective in enhancing quality of life and family resilience among parents? 2. Is the programme effective in enhancing quality of life among children? 3. Is the programme feasible and acceptable for large scale implementation in Singapore? Researchers will compare the status of family participants (caregivers and children) before and after they take the programme and compare family participants who take the programme with family participants who have not yet taken the programme to see if the programme is effective in benefiting the participants. Researchers will also invite family participants to discuss about the programme. Family participants will 1. Take the 10-week SFAT programme 2. Complete assessment survey for 3 times 3. Attend a focus group discussion (optional) To assess the programme feasibility, researchers will additional invite art therapist participants to evaluate the programme and invite community staff participants to discuss about the programme implementation. Art therapist participants will complete programme and session evaluation reports. Community staff participants will attend a focus group discussion.

Detailed description

The current research aims to evaluate the effectiveness and feasibility of the Strong Families Through Art Therapy (SFAT) programme, which was developed to improve the parent-child relationship in vulnerable families. Service users of the SFAT programme will receive a progressive support from workshops, dyad art therapy, and an innovative art-based self-care tool developed with a multidisciplinary team to meet the needs of enhancing family communication and strengthening emotional bonding. The current research utilizes a pragmatic mixed method research paradigm to evaluate the programme. For the quantitative component, a single-site, open label, Waitlist Randomized Control Trial (RCT) design, comprising two arms: (i) treatment group and (ii) waitlist control group, will be adopted to evaluate the efficacy of the Strong Families Through Art Therapy (SFAT) for improving quality of life and family resilience among parents and children. For the qualitative component, an embedded qualitative focus group evaluation study with participants who complete the SFAT programme, together with analysis of intervention session evaluation forms completed by art therapists who conduct the SFAT programme and focus group discussion completed by community staff who support to implement the programme, will be conducted to evaluate programme acceptability and feasibility. After signing the informed consent form, the recruited family (consisting of one parent and one to three children dyads) will be asked to complete a baseline assessment before randomization and the start of the SFAT programme \[T1\]. Family participants in the treatment group will then undergo an 10-week SFAT programme conducted by the Red Pencil (Singapore) team, complete an immediate post-intervention assessment \[T2\], with a final follow-up assessment at 20-weeks \[T3\]. Family participants in the waitlist control group will complete a pre-intervention assessment before start of the SFAT programme at 10-weeks \[T2\], then undergo the same 10-week SFAT programme conducted by the Red Pencil (Singapore) team and complete an immediate post-intervention assessment at 20-weeks \[T3\]. Moreover, selected family participants will be invited to take part in an acceptability focus group study after T3 assessments. Post-session evaluation forms will also be completed by art therapist participants after session completion and focus group discussion will be held for community staff participants to discuss on the programme implementation. Figure 1 details the study procedures.

Conditions

• Vulnerable Families

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	dyadic art therapy intervention for parent-child relationship in vulnerable families	The Stronger Families Through Art Therapy (SFAT) is a dyadic art therapy intervention developed to improve the parent-child relationship in vulnerable families. Service users of the SFAT programme will receive a progressive support from workshops, dyad art therapy, and an innovative art-based self-care tool developed with a multidisciplinary team to meet the needs of enhancing family communication and strengthening emotional bonding.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-02-22
• Primary completion: 2026-07-01
• Completion: 2026-12-31
• First posted: 2024-12-13
• Last updated: 2026-02-24

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Singapore