JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Shared decision-making (SDM) is recognised as a person-centred approach to improving health care quality and outcomes. Few digital interventions to improve SDM have been tested in child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) settings. One such intervention is Power Up, a mobile phone application for young people, which has shown some evidence of promise that young people who received Power Up reported greater levels of SDM. However, parents play a critical role in CAMH care and treatment, but often feel excluded from services.

Objective:

This protocol is for a pilot trial to determine the feasibility of a large-scale randomised trial to develop and evaluate a web application (called Power Up for Parents or PUfP) to support parents and promote involvement in CAMH decisions.

Methods:

A two-stage process, consisting of the development stage and pilot testing stage of the initial PUfP prototype will be conducted. At the development stage, a qualitative study with parents and clinicians will be conducted. The interviews will aim to capture the experience of making CAMH decisions, preferences for involvement in SDM, and determine situations within which PUfP can be useful. At the pilot testing stage, (up to 90) parents and their clinicians will be invited to participate in the testing of the prototype. Parents will be randomly allocated to receive the intervention or be part of the control group. This study design will allow us to assess the acceptability and usefulness of PUfP in addition to examining the feasibility of a prospective randomised trial. Clinicians’ perceptions of the prototype and how it has influenced parents' involvement in SDM will also be examined.

Results:

Recruitment began in January 2019 and is scheduled to last for ten months. Interviews and baseline data collection are currently in progress. To date, 11 CAMH sites have been recruited to take part in the study. It is anticipated that data collection will be completed by October 2019.

Conclusions:

The lack of parents’ involvement in CAMH care and treatment can lead to higher rates of dropout from care, and lower adherence to therapeutic interventions. There are significant benefits to be gained globally if digital SDM interventions are adopted by parents and shown to be successful in CAMH settings. Clinical Trial: ISRCTN39238984: Registered 04 July 2018.