Communic-Aid: Support for Families

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant The purpose of this Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) proposal is to continue development and evaluation of Communic-Aid: Support for Families ( Communic-Aid ), a practical, innovative, and comprehensive resource for caregivers and direct care providers to support open family communication with a school-age child with a life-threatening illness (LTI). The complete Communic-Aid program contains a Caregiver Guidebook with supplemental audiovisual program (DVD), and a Family Activity Book. Communic- Aid will also include a Facilitator's Guide for healthcare staff to use when implementing Communic-Aid with families in a support group format. Caregivers of children with an LTI face many significant and important questions, including if, how, and when to talk to their child about their illness, upcoming treatment procedures, prognosis, or even impending death. Other concerns center around how to interact and communicate with their child's healthcare team to advocate most effectively for their child and their family. Research consistently shows that open and honest communication between family members about illness and death benefits the family of a child with LTI and improves the coping and quality of life of the dying child and his or her parents and siblings (Steele, 2002; Kreicbergs, Valdimarsdottir, Henter, and Steineck, 2004). Despite evidence supporting the benefits of open communication about the child's illness, death, and dying, very few resources exist to teach caregivers how to facilitate open and direct communication about the illness, death and dying within the family context, or to providers on how to best support this type of family communication. Communic-Aid will meet this need by supporting caregivers as they cope throughout the illness process and improving communication between caregivers and the health care team. During the Phase II project, Danya proposes to complete development of all product components, including the Family Activity Book, Audiovisual program, Facilitator's Guide, and the last 2 modules of the Caregiver Guidebook. Content will be informed by formative research conducted with caregivers, providers, and children with LTI. Once product development is complete, we will conduct a rigorous evaluation of the product components to see what effect, if any, Communic-Aid has on caregivers' willingness to use open communication techniques with the child, other family members, and the healthcare team as well as caregivers' self-efficacy in using these techniques. Providers will participate in a qualitative review of the Caregiver Guidebook to ensure that the materials are appropriate for and relevant to families and sensitive to cultural and religious diversity. The results of this evaluation will be used to make improvements to the product before PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Research consistently shows that open and honest communication between family members about illness and death benefits the family of a child with a life-threatening illness and improves the coping and quality of life of the dying child and his or her parents and siblings (Steele, 2002; Kreicbergs, Valdimarsdsttir, Onelvv, Henter, and Steineck, 2004). Despite this clear benefit to the child and family, there are currently no existing comprehensive programs to teach and support caregivers in facilitating open and direct communication about the illness, death and dying within the family context, or to teach providers how to best support this type of family communication. Communic-Aid will fill this unmet need in the pediatric hospice and palliative care field, and ultimately contribute to public health by improving the coping skills and quality of life for these children and their families.