RecruitingNot ApplicableNCT05584059

Pai.ACT Programme for Parents of Children With Special Healthcare Needs - Phase I

Pai.ACT: A Deep-Learning Mental Health Advisory System Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Parents of Children With Special Healthcare Needs (Phase I)

Sponsor

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Enrollment

150 participants

Start Date

Dec 1, 2022

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder Neurodevelopmental Disorders Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Chronic Disease Development Delay

Summary

This study aims to determine the feasibility, acceptability and potential efficacy of an individual, video-conferencing based Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) on the mental well-being of parents of children with Special Health Care Needs(SHCN). The study also aims to explore the experience of parents after participating in the individual-based FACT sessions offered by the trained FACT interventionists.

Eligibility

Min Age: 21 Years

Inclusion Criteria5

Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents
living together with the child who is at preschool/school-age (3-9 years old)
adopt the responsibility of taking care of the child,
has daily access to their iPhone and Android smartphones.
In addition, potential eligible parents who respond "yes" to any of the five validated screening questions in the Children with Special Health Care Needs (SHCN) Screener (see https://www.childhealthdata.org/docs/cshcn/technical-summary-of-cshcn-screener.pdf) will then be asked the associated follow-up questions to determine whether the child possesses physical, neurodevelopmental/emotional problem(s) that has lasted for at least 12 months. Only children with a positive response(s) to ≥ 1 item in each of the associated follow-up questions will be classified as children with SHCN.

Exclusion Criteria1

Parents with severe mental illness or developmental disabilities which impaired their ability to comprehend the content of the programme will be excluded.

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Interventions

BEHAVIORALFocused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

This is an individual-based FACT counselling programme which composes of 4-6 sessions on a weekly basis (45-60mins/session). All the sessions are delivered by a trained FACT interventionist via either video-conferencing (e.g., Zoom or Windows Teams) or face-to-face format. The programme aims to increase the psychological flexibility of the parent, so that he/she is able to (i) experience the present moment and take perspective on self (i.e., Awareness); (ii) detach the distressing private experiences and associated rules and to take a non-judgemental, accepting stance toward the painful experiences (i.e., Openness) and (iii) exhibits strong connection with values and commit to values-consistent actions. The trained interventionist will use different ACT strategies in these sessions, including ACT metaphors, experiential exercises, guided mindfulness exercises, guided imagery exercises and values clarification exercises to reinforce the above principles.