Assessing the Feasibility of an Intervention for Youth and Parents Transitioning to Adult Eating Disorder Services

NCT ID: NCT04888273

Last Updated: 2022-09-07

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 19 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2021-05-15
• Study Completion Date: 2022-05-30

Brief Summary

Teenagers with eating disorders often experience a disruption in care upon turning 18. At this age, they are no longer eligible to receive pediatric treatment but are also not yet set up with the appropriate adult services. There are currently no supports in place to help youth with eating disorders and their families during this transition from child to adult care. In this project, the investigators will be implementing an intervention designed to improve this transition experience; it will include peer support, parent education, a meeting with the child and adult care providers, contact with the family doctor, and a written guide about the transition. Among 10 adolescent-parent pairs leaving McMaster Children's Hospital to adult programs in Hamilton, Ontario, the investigators will assess how feasible the intervention is to implement, how feasible the chosen measures are, participants' experience of the intervention, how many adolescents actually transition to adult care, as well as a few adolescent and parent outcomes, such as how prepared the teen feels or what the parents' needs are.

Detailed Description

Eating disorders (EDs) are severe psychiatric illnesses that negatively impact the health and quality of life of sufferers and their families. EDs typically begin in adolescence and often progress into adulthood, often requiring youth to transition from pediatric to adult mental health services. However, patients often experience a discontinuity in care due to a lack of coordinated transition between services, which has a significant impact on their health. Although barriers to a smooth transition and solutions to mend the gap have been identified in the literature, there is no stakeholder-informed protocol in Canada to address this issue.

The aim of this project is to develop and test a protocol to support the health services transition from pediatric to adult treatment for adolescents with EDs and their families.

The investigators have prepared a protocol aimed at improving this transition experience using suggestions from the existing literature. The investigators will also invite stakeholders to offer recommendations for its local use. The proposed suite of interventions will be tested in a sample of adolescents who are in treatment at a pediatric ED program based in Hamilton, Ontario during their transition to adult services, along with their parents. The investigators will report upon enrolment and retention rates into adult programs, feasibility indicators of the intervention and research procedures, self-reported readiness to transition, post-transition qualitative interviews with adolescents and parents regarding their experience, and written reflections by all participants regarding each intervention component. The eligibility criteria and outcome measures will be elaborated upon below.

If this study is successful, the investigators will test the feasibility, acceptability, and cost of this protocol across pediatric ED programs in Ontario, and eventually Canada. This innovative protocol has the potential to improve health outcomes for this population, to decrease long-term disability costs associated with EDs, and to improve the quality and success of the mental health service delivery that directly influences the quality of life of Canadian youth and families affected by EDs.

Conditions

Eating Disorders; Eating Disorders in Adolescence

Study Design

• Allocation Method: NA
• Intervention Model: SINGLE_GROUP
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

All adolescents and parents who meet the eligibility criteria

The adolescents and parents will be invited to participate in a 5-component intervention that will hopefully empower and prepare the pair for the transition to adult care.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Transition Intervention

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Each adolescent-parent pair will be invited to complete 5 components of the intervention (peer support session, parent education session, transition meeting with healthcare providers, family doctor contact, and reading a transition navigation guide) over a 3-month period. These intervention components were designed with the intention of making the transition process transparent for the duo, preparing the adolescent to take responsibility of their own health as it relates to their disorder, and helping the parent step back from the process to help the adolescent integrate to adult care better.

Interventions

Transition Intervention

Each adolescent-parent pair will be invited to complete 5 components of the intervention (peer support session, parent education session, transition meeting with healthcare providers, family doctor contact, and reading a transition navigation guide) over a 3-month period. These intervention components were designed with the intention of making the transition process transparent for the duo, preparing the adolescent to take responsibility of their own health as it relates to their disorder, and helping the parent step back from the process to help the adolescent integrate to adult care better.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 3-6 months away from 18th birthday
• Be currently diagnosed with an ED
• Enrolled at McMaster Children's Hospital's Pediatric Eating Disorder Program
• Be in the process of preparing for a healthcare transition to local adult ED services based on pediatric healthcare providers' recommendation

• Must be the parent of an adolescent who meets the criteria above

• English-speaking
• Access to a working computer with a functioning microphone and regular internet connection

• Minimum Eligible Age: 17 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 17 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

McMaster University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Jennifer Couturier

Principal Investigator

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

McMaster Children's Hospital

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Countries

Canada

References

Nicula M, Kimber M, Boylan K, Grant C, Laliberte M, Miller K, Dimitropoulos G, Trollope K, Webb C, Couturier J. Assessing the feasibility of an intervention for adolescents and parents transitioning out of paediatric eating disorder services: A mixed methods study. Eur Eat Disord Rev. 2023 Aug 26. doi: 10.1002/erv.3027. Online ahead of print.

Reference Type: DERIVED

PMID: 37632341 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

13303

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id