Implementing Virtual Parent Support Groups for Eating Disorders Across Canada

NCT ID: NCT05151900

Last Updated: 2022-09-10

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: UNKNOWN
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 115 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-05-01
• Study Completion Date: 2023-05-31

Brief Summary

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada has experienced a surge in new pediatric eating disorder cases and hospitalizations and long treatment waitlists, with parents experiencing anxiety due to a lack of support. As it has not been rigorously studied, there is an urgent need to understand and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, youth, and families living with eating disorders across Canada. The investigator's proposed research has two goals. First, the investigators plan to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic faced by this population throughout the country, as well as describe stakeholder views on virtual parent-led peer support groups. Given the increased burden faced by parents of children with eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, the second goal is to study whether the national implementation of virtual parent-led peer support groups helps to mitigate the impact of the pandemic among affected parents. The investigators will use qualitative semi-structured interviews to gather an understanding of the impact of the pandemic on relevant stakeholders across the country. At the same time, the investigators will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the implementation of virtual parent-led peer support groups in several regions of Canada by examining parent and parent peer support provider experiences.

Conditions

Eating Disorders

Study Design

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

Study Groups

Stakeholder Perspectives and Virtual Parent-Led Peer Support Group

Qualitative interviews regarding the impact of COVID-19 will be conducted with youth who have an eating disorder (ED), parents of youth who have an ED, ED clinicians and ED program administrators, as well as get their perspectives on parent-led peer support groups. Three parent-led peer support groups will be started, including psychoeducation in a virtual group setting for parents who have a child or adolescent with an eating disorder.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Support Group for Caregivers

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Engage parents in the community via this support group, so they can be supported by other parents who "know the system", can advise them on how to proceed, and empower them to help their children. Parents will learn psychoeducation about eating disorders and how to support their children.

Interventions

Support Group for Caregivers

Engage parents in the community via this support group, so they can be supported by other parents who "know the system", can advise them on how to proceed, and empower them to help their children. Parents will learn psychoeducation about eating disorders and how to support their children.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Have the capacity to write, speak and understand English
• Have access to a computer and internet
• Among parents enrolled in the virtual parent-led peer support groups, they must have a child or adolescent (<18 years of age) diagnosed with an eating disorder
• Among youth and parents of youth with an eating disorder in the qualitative interviews component of the study, they/their child must either be on a waiting list for eating disorder treatment, actively in treatment, or post-treatment; the youth must be <18 years of age and the parent must have a child <18 years of age
• Among clinician/administrators in the qualitative interviews component of the study, they must work within pediatric eating disorder programs or lifespan eating disorder programs.

Exclusion Criteria

• No lived or professional experience in the field of eating disorders
• Don't have the capacity to write, speak and understand English
• Don't have access to the internet/computer

• Minimum Eligible Age: 12 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 100 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

McMaster University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Jennifer Couturier

Principal Investigator, Medical Co-Director, Associate Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Jennifer Couturier, MD MSc

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

McMaster University

Locations

University of Calgary

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Site Status: RECRUITING

IWK Health Centre

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Site Status: RECRUITING

McMaster University

Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Site Status: RECRUITING

Countries

Canada

Central Contacts

Danielle Pellegrini, BSc, MPH

Role: CONTACT

pellegdm@mcmaster.ca

289-880-4149

Facility Contacts

Gina Dimitropoulos, MSW, PhD

Role: primary

gdimit@ucalgary.ca

Lori Wozney, MA, PhD

Role: primary

lori.wozney@nshealth.ca

Jennifer Couturier, MD MSc

Role: primary

coutur@mcmaster.ca

Other Identifiers

14196

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id