Planning and designing a self-compassion intervention for family carers of people living with dementia: a person-based and co-design approach

Background This article describes the research activities undertaken to plan and design a self-compassion intervention for family carers of people living with dementia using a person-based and co-design approach. In providing this example, our aim is two-fold: to highlight the value of using qualitative research and co-design processes within intervention development; and to showcase systematic reporting of an intervention’s early planning and design stages. Methods A person-based and co-design approach informed the planning and design of the self-compassion intervention. In Stage 1, qualitative interviews were undertaken with 14 family carers of people living with dementia and 14 professional stakeholders. In Stage 2, intervention guiding principles were developed, psychological theory was incorporated, and six family carers of people living with dementia were engaged as co-designers. Results Knowledge generated during intervention planning identified that the intervention should be situated within the concept of compassion more broadly; address misperceptions, fears, blocks, and resistances to self-compassion; and target feelings of shame, guilt, and self-criticism. Subsequent intervention design activities determined that the needs of family carers of people living with dementia were best met by tailoring an existing intervention, namely group-based Compassion-Focused Therapy. Conclusions Our systematic approach highlights the value of incorporating in-depth qualitative research and co-design within the intervention development process to prioritise the perspectives and lived experiences of family carers of people living with dementia. The planning and design process outlined provides insight that is applicable to the development of our intervention and complex health interventions within gerontology and beyond.

Determinants of Stillbirth From Two Observational Studies Investigating Deliveries in Kano, Nigeria

Background:Stillbirths are a poignant representation of global inequality. Nigeria is documented to have the second highest rate; yet, the reporting system is inadequate in most Nigerian healthcare facilities. The aim was to identify the determinants of stillbirth among deliveries in the Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital (MMSH), Kano, Nigeria.Methods:Two study designs were used: a case-control study (S1) and a prospective cohort study (S2). Both studies were carried out at the MMSH. For S1, stillbirths were retrospectively matched to a livebirth by time (target of 24 hours' time variation) to establish a case-control study with a 1:1 ratio. Eligibility into S2 included all mothers who were presented at the MMSH in labour regardless of birth outcome. Both were based on recruitment durations, not sample sizes (3 months and 2 months, respectively, 2017–2018). The demographic and clinical data were collected through paper-based questionnaires. Univariable logistic regression was used. Multivariable logistic regression was used to explore relationships between area type and other specific factors.Findings:Stillbirth incidence in S2 was 180/1,000 births. Stillbirth was associated with the following factors; no maternal education, previous stillbirth(s), prematurity, living in both semi-rural and rural settings, and having extended time periods between rupture of membranes and delivery. Findings of the multivariable analysis (S1 and S2) indicated that the odds of stillbirth, for those living in a rural area, were further exacerbated in those mothers who had no education, lived in a shack, or had any maternal disease.Interpretation:This research identifies the gravity of this situation in this area and highlights the need for action. Further understanding of some of the findings and exploration into associations are required to inform intervention development.Funding:This collaboration was partially supported by funding from Health and Care Research Wales.

Barriers to implementation of pediatric emergency department interventions for parental tobacco use and dependence: a qualitative study using the theoretical domains framework

Background Pediatric emergency department (PED) and urgent care (UC) professionals can play a key role in delivering evidence-based guidelines to address parental tobacco use and child tobacco smoke exposure (TSE). Understanding PED/UC professionals’ perceptions regarding these guidelines is the first step in developing and implementing a TSE screening and counseling intervention in these settings. This study aimed to use the theoretical domains framework (TDF) to identify current screening and counseling behaviors of PED/UC professionals related to parental tobacco use and child TSE, and determine barriers and enablers that influence these behaviors. Methods Semi-structured, focused interviews were conducted with 29 actively practicing PED/UC clinical staff who worked at one large, Midwestern children’s hospital. The interview guide was informed by the TDF and included open-ended questions. Content analysis of interview transcripts was guided by the TDF. Nurses, physicians, and healthcare administrators were assessed overall and by group membership to ensure each group was represented based on their varying PED/UC roles. Results Fifty-one percent were nurses, 38% were physicians, and 11% were healthcare administrators. Most PED/UC professionals did not currently follow the guidelines, but perceived addressing parental tobacco use as part of their role. All 14 TDF domains were identified by nurses, physicians, and administrators in relation to counseling for parental tobacco use and child TSE. Domains with the most sub-themes were (1) knowledge: lack of knowledge about tobacco counseling, including implementing counseling, cessation resources/referrals, and thirdhand smoke; (2) beliefs about capabilities: not comfortable counseling parents, easier to discuss with parents who are receptive and to ask and advise when patients have a TSE-related complaint, and more likely to discuss if there were resources/referrals; and (3) environmental context and resources: barriers include lack of time, training, and resources and referral information to give to parents, and an enabler is using TSE-related complaints as a context to offer counseling. Conclusions Study findings provide a strong foundation for developing and implementing clinical practice guidelines regarding parental tobacco use and child TSE in the PED/UC setting. Future intervention development will address all TDF domains and test the implementation of the intervention in the PED/UC setting.

The BOOST Paediatric Advance Care Planning Intervention for Adolescents with Cancer and Their Parents: Development, Acceptability and Feasibility

Background Although advance care planning (ACP) has been widely recommended to support patient and family engagement in understanding the patient’s values, preferences and goals of care, there are only a few models in paediatric oncology that capture ACP as a process of behaviour change. We aimed to develop and test the acceptability and feasibility of BOOST pACP (Benefits of Obtaining Ownership Systematically Together in paediatric Advance Care Planning) – an intervention to improve ACP in adolescents with cancer, their parents and paediatric oncologists. Methods Several methods informed the intervention development process: 1) Problem identification: interviews with 11 healthcare professionals working in paediatric oncology; 2) Identification of evidence: literature review of existing pACP tools and barriers and facilitators in performing pACP; 3) Logic model and 4) Intervention design: collaborative expert meetings with researchers and professionals in pACP; 5a) Acceptability test of the materials: interviews with 9 healthcare professionals, 4 adolescents and young adults with cancer and 6 parents; 5b) Feasibility test of core intervention components with 3 families, including interviews about their experiences. Results The BOOST pACP intervention was iteratively developed and adapted, based on feedback from families, healthcare professionals, and pACP experts (e.g., components were changed, deleted, and added; formulation of themes and associated questions were amended to enhance acceptability). The core components of the BOOST pACP intervention include: 4 ACP conversation sessions with the adolescent and/or parent(s) provided by a trained facilitator, structured by interactive conversation cards covering different ACP themes, followed by a transfer of information from the intervention facilitator to the paediatric oncologist. Core intervention components were deemed feasible by all participating families. Conclusion The BOOST pACP intervention was developed by close involvement of both adolescent patients and their parents, healthcare professionals and pACP experts. The final intervention and supporting materials are considered appropriate and feasible. Its effectiveness in improving parent-adolescent communication on ACP themes is currently being tested in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial. Researchers aiming to develop a complex psychosocial intervention for a vulnerable target group could use the step-by-step approach described in this paper.

A Brief Online Implicit Bias Intervention for School Mental Health Clinicians

Clinician bias has been identified as a potential contributor to persistent healthcare disparities across many medical specialties and service settings. Few studies have examined strategies to reduce clinician bias, especially in mental healthcare, despite decades of research evidencing service and outcome disparities in adult and pediatric populations. This manuscript describes an intervention development study and a pilot feasibility trial of the Virtual Implicit Bias Reduction and Neutralization Training (VIBRANT) for mental health clinicians in schools—where most youth in the U.S. access mental healthcare. Clinicians (N = 12) in the feasibility study—a non-randomized open trial—rated VIBRANT as highly usable, appropriate, acceptable, and feasible for their school-based practice. Preliminarily, clinicians appeared to demonstrate improvements in implicit bias knowledge, use of bias-management strategies, and implicit biases (as measured by the Implicit Association Test [IAT]) post-training. Moreover, putative mediators (e.g., clinicians’ VIBRANT strategies use, IAT D scores) and outcome variables (e.g., clinician-rated quality of rapport) generally demonstrated correlations in the expected directions. These pilot results suggest that brief and highly scalable online interventions such as VIBRANT are feasible and promising for addressing implicit bias among healthcare providers (e.g., mental health clinicians) and can have potential downstream impacts on minoritized youth’s care experience.

A systematic review of behaviour change techniques used in interventions to increase physical activity among breast cancer survivors

Background Despite evidence that physical activity (PA) can help reduce recurrence and mortality, many breast cancer survivors are less active than recommended levels. The aim of this systematic review is to advance our understanding of which behaviour change techniques (BCTs) have been used in interventions promoting breast cancer survivors’ PA and to evaluate their potential to increase PA. Methods A systematic search was conducted in five databases (Medline; PsycInfo; Embase; CINAHL and Scopus) for studies published between 2005 and 2019. Following a rigorous screening process, 27 studies were retained. These were reviewed and analysed for quality, coded for BCTs (k = 0.65) and interventions categorised according to their potential to increase PA using an established methodology. Results The majority of studies were moderate quality (64%). Demonstration on how to perform the behaviour was the most commonly used BCT (n = 23). Adding objects to the environment, (pedometer or accelerometer) was the BCT with the highest potential to increase PA. This was followed by, goal setting and self-monitoring of behaviour. A theory-based approach to evaluation was used in only 59% (n = 16) of the studies. Conclusions The results of this review inform which BCTs have the potential to increase PA for breast cancer survivors and inform intervention development. Future research, is encouraged to properly report intervention procedures around dose and frequency of intervention components to allow for review and replication.

Developing mHealth Interventions with Implementation in Mind: Application of the Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) Preparation Phase to Diabetes Prevention Programming (Preprint)

UNSTRUCTURED With thousands of mHealth solutions on the market, patients and healthcare providers struggle to identify which solution to use/prescribe. The lack of evidence-based mHealth solutions may be due to limited research on intervention development and continued use of traditional research methods for mHealth evaluation. The Multiphase Optimization Strategy (MOST) is a framework which aids in developing interventions which are economical, affordable, scalable, and effective (EASE). MOST Phase I highlights the importance of formative intervention development, a stage often overlooked and rarely published. The aim of MOST Phase I is to identify candidate intervention components, create a conceptual model, and define the optimization objective. While MOST sets these three targets, the framework itself does not provide robust guidance on how to conduct quality research within Phase I, and what steps can be taken to identify potential intervention components, develop the conceptual model, and achieve intervention EASE with the implementation context in mind. To advance the applicability of MOST within the field of implementation science, this paper provides an account of the methods used to develop an mHealth intervention. Specifically, we provide a comprehensive example of how to achieve the goals of MOST Phase I by outlining the formative development of an mHealth prompting intervention within a diabetes prevention program. Additionally, recommendations are proposed for future researchers to conduct formative research on mHealth interventions with implementation in mind. Given its considerable reach, mHealth has the potential to positively impact public health by decreasing implementation costs and improving accessibility. MOST is well-suited for the efficient development and optimization of mHealth interventions. By using an implementation-focused lens and outlining the steps in developing an mHealth intervention using MOST Phase I, this work can may guide future intervention developers towards maximizing the impact of mHealth outside of the research laboratory.

A Review of Feedback Models and Theories: Descriptions, Definitions, and Conclusions

The positive effect of feedback on students’ performance and learning is no longer disputed. For this reason, scholars have been working on developing models and theories that explain how feedback works and which variables may contribute to student engagement with it. Our aim with this review was to describe the most prominent models and theories, identified using a systematic, three-step approach. We selected 14 publications and described definitions, models, their background, and specific underlying mechanisms of feedback processes. We concluded the review with eight main points reached from our analysis of the models. The goal of this paper is to inform the field and to help both scholars and educators to select appropriate models to frame their research and intervention development. In our complementary review (Panadero and Lipnevich, 2021) we further analyzed and compared the fourteen models with the goal to classify and integrate shared elements into a new comprehensive model.