Intervention to Increase Parent-provider Communication During Referrals

Summary

The overall goal of this three-year study is to adapt and test a brief, feasible intervention using a communication tool and brief parent coaching to increase the capability of parents of children and youth with special health care needs to exchange and use medical information in partnership with their child's physicians when their children require sub-specialty referral. We hypothesize that the use of tools to coordinate referrals between physicians and parents will facilitate increased communication between primary care physicians(PCPs) and specialists, and that parents trained in information exchange and care planning will experience increased self-efficacy in interacting with their child's physicians.

There are two primary aims of the study. The first aim is to adapt a joint parent-provider referral communication and care planning intervention (i.e., the 'referral care plan') for use with ethnically diverse populations in an electronic communication environment, and optimize its usability in the practice setting. The second aim is to test the referral care plan in nine pediatric primary care and subspecialty practices in two states, using a stepped wedge cluster randomized trial, to evaluate its effect on communication, parent self-efficacy, and patient outcomes.

Conditions

• Parent-Provider Communication

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Care plan and coaching

In the intervention group, primary care providers and parents complete their sections of the referral care plan. Parents and referred specialists receive a copy of the form. Parents receive a 5-10 minute brief intervention by phone consisting of education and coaching. The care plan is reviewed with parents to help them practice exchanging information with the specialist and encourage parents to contact their child's primary care provider with any further questions. At the specialist visit, specialists review and complete the care plan with the parent and return the plan to the referring primary care provider. Outcome data are collected from parents before and after the specialist visit.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Oklahoma

  collaborator OTHER

• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

  collaborator FED

• University of Colorado, Denver

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Christopher Stille, MD, MPH · University of Colorado, Denver

• Paul Darden, MD · University of Oklahoma

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

1 Day

Max Age

17 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-03-31

Primary Completion

2015-02-28

Completion

2015-02-28

Countries

• United States

Study Locations