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Effectiveness of a Pain Assessment and Management Program for Respite Workers Supporting Children With Disabilities

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Pain
Interventions
Other: Let's Talk About Pain Training
Other: Family Centered Care Training
Registration Number
NCT03421795
Lead Sponsor
University of Guelph
Brief Summary

This study investigates the impact of pain training delivery for respite care providers who support children with developmental disabilities on (a) pain assessment and management-related knowledge, (b) participant self-rated perceptions of the feasibility, confidence and skill in pain assessment and management, and (c) strategy use. Half of the participants will receive the pain training, while half will receive the training about family-centered care, and be offered the pain training after completion of the follow-up.

Detailed Description

Background Information: Everyday pain is common in children with intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD). Inadequately managed pain in this population is a common problem, and this is likely due to these children's inability to communicate pain effectively. Unfortunately, many of these children are unable to accurately self-report or effectively communicate the pain experience. Thus, caregivers are often responsible for assessing their pain. Research has focused on professionals and parents, but it is also common for children with I/DD to receive care from others including respite workers. The investigators recently found a difference between pain beliefs held by respite workers and individuals with little to no experience with this population. Specifically, respite workers believed that a significantly larger percentage of children with severe I/DD sensed less pain than typically developing children. This is contrary to research suggesting that children with I/DD have similar pain perception but communicate it differently (e.g., through idiosyncratic behaviours). Thus, it is possible that respite workers miss critical cues when children with I/DD are in pain. As such, the investigators have developed and successfully piloted a pain training program targeted to respite workers who support children with I/DD. This program demonstrated initial success in improving respite workers' pain-related knowledge, as well as their perceptions of the feasibility of and their own confidence and skill in pain assessment and management with this population of children.

Within a randomized control trial, the objectives of this study are to further test the effectiveness of the Let's Talk About Pain respite worker training program on respite workers' (a) pain-related knowledge, (b) self-rated perceptions of the feasibility of and their own confidence and skill in pain assessment and management, and (c) use of pain assessment and management strategies specific to children with I/DD in respite settings. Participants will complete questionnaires immediately before and after provision of a pain training (or control training). Approximately one month after the training, participants will complete these questionnaires for a third time and participate in a focus group regarding their pain assessment and management strategy use.

The long term objectives of this line of research are to: 1) increase pain assessment and management abilities of respite workers, and, consequently, 2) decrease levels of suffering and ill-managed pain in children with I/DD.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
178
Inclusion Criteria
  • Over the age of 18
  • Proficient in the English language
  • Active respite worker who provides respite care to children (age 0 - 18) with developmental disabilities
Exclusion Criteria
  • n/a

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Let's Talk About Pain TrainingLet's Talk About Pain TrainingParticipants complete pre-, post- and follow-up measures, and receive a pain training program. The pain assessment and management training will be based on a training previously developed and piloted by Genik et al. (2017). The training will be facilitated by the same researcher (L.G.) throughout the study.
Family Centered Care TrainingFamily Centered Care TrainingParticipants complete all of the same measures as those in the intervention, but receive a training about family centered care. This training will be facilitated by Andrea Cross (PhD Candidate) from CanChild and will be related to the F-words of childhood disability (function, family, fitness, fun, friends, future; Rosenbaum \& Gorter, 2012) .
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Within intervention group change (i.e., maintenance) from post in scores on Questionnaire for Understanding Pain in Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities - RevisedPost (within 30 minutes after completion of training), Follow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Pain-related knowledge assessment

Within intervention group change from baseline in scores on Questionnaire for Understanding Pain in Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities - RevisedBaseline (within 30 minutes prior to start of training), Post (within 30 minutes after completion of training)

Pain-related knowledge assessment

Between group difference in scores on Questionnaire for Understanding Pain in Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities - RevisedFollow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Pain-related knowledge assessment

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Between group difference ratings of perceived skill in pain assessmentFollow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own skill in pain assessment; 0 (Not skilled at all) - 10 (highly/extremely skilled) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Between group difference ratings of the feasibility of pain managementFollow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of the feasibility of pain management; 0 (Not feasible at all) - 10 (highly/extremely feasible) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change (i.e., maintenance) from post in ratings of perceived confidence in pain assessmentPost (within 30 minutes after completion of training), Follow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own confidence in their pain assessment abilities; 0 (Not confident at all) - 10 (highly/extremely confident) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Between group difference ratings of perceived skill in pain managementFollow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own skill in pain management; 0 (Not skilled at all) - 10 (highly/extremely skilled) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change from baseline in ratings of perceived confidence in pain assessmentBaseline (within 30 minutes prior to start of training), Post (within 30 minutes after completion of training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own confidence in their pain assessment abilities; 0 (Not confident at all) - 10 (highly/extremely confident) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change from baseline in ratings of perceived skill in pain managementBaseline (within 30 minutes prior to start of training), Post (within 30 minutes after completion of training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own skill in pain management; 0 (Not skilled at all) - 10 (highly/extremely skilled) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Between group difference in ratings of the feasibility of pain assessmentFollow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of the feasibility of pain assessment; 0 (Not feasible at all) - 10 (highly/extremely feasible) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Between group difference ratings of perceived confidence in pain assessment abilitiesFollow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own confidence in their pain assessment abilities; 0 (Not confident at all) - 10 (highly/extremely confident) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change from baseline in ratings of the feasibility of pain managementBaseline (within 30 minutes prior to start of training), Post (within 30 minutes after completion of training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of the feasibility of pain management; 0 (Not feasible at all) - 10 (highly/extremely feasible) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change from baseline in ratings of perceived confidence in pain managementBaseline (within 30 minutes prior to start of training), Post (within 30 minutes after completion of training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own confidence in their pain management abilities; 0 (Not confident at all) - 10 (highly/extremely confident) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change (i.e., maintenance) from post in ratings of the feasibility of pain managementPost (within 30 minutes after completion of training), Follow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of the feasibility of pain management; 0 (Not feasible at all) - 10 (highly/extremely feasible) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change (i.e., maintenance) from post in ratings of perceived confidence in pain managementPost (within 30 minutes after completion of training), Follow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own confidence in their pain management abilities; 0 (Not confident at all) - 10 (highly/extremely confident) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Between group difference ratings of perceived confidence in pain management abilitiesFollow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own confidence in their pain management abilities; 0 (Not confident at all) - 10 (highly/extremely confident) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change (i.e., maintenance) from post in ratings of the feasibility of pain assessmentPost (within 30 minutes after completion of training), Follow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of the feasibility of pain assessment; 0 (Not feasible at all) - 10 (highly/extremely feasible) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change (i.e., maintenance) from post in ratings of perceived skill in pain managementPost (within 30 minutes after completion of training), Follow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own skill in pain management; 0 (Not skilled at all) - 10 (highly/extremely skilled) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change from baseline in ratings of the feasibility of pain assessmentBaseline (within 30 minutes prior to start of training), Post (within 30 minutes after completion of training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of the feasibility of pain assessment; 0 (Not feasible at all) - 10 (highly/extremely feasible) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change from baseline in ratings of perceived skill in pain assessmentBaseline (within 30 minutes prior to start of training), Post (within 30 minutes after completion of training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own skill in pain assessment; 0 (Not skilled at all) - 10 (highly/extremely skilled) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Within intervention group change (i.e., maintenance) from post in ratings of perceived skill in pain assessmentPost (within 30 minutes after completion of training), Follow-Up (approximately one month after training)

Researcher generated scale measuring participants' perceptions of their own skill in pain assessment; 0 (Not skilled at all) - 10 (highly/extremely skilled) Likert Scale. Higher scores are better.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

University of Guelph

🇨🇦

Guelph, Ontario, Canada

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