Educating Parents About Pediatric Research: Children and Clinical Studies Website Qualitative Evaluation

Developing a Family Resource: Considerations for Family Member Research Participation

When individuals participate in health care research, the choice often affects the entire family. Researchers are responsible for protecting participants and minimizing any burdens the research may place on them. Resources to educate potential study participants about these issues from a family perspective are lacking. A family-focused, evidence-based resource was created for individuals and families to prompt discussion prior to their consenting to enrollment in research. The resource includes key relevant questions to consider related to their study participation and was revised based on input from family nurse scientists and a hospital-based family advisory group. This resource raises awareness of the importance of employing a family lens when designing research and during the recruitment and enrollment of participants. Adopting a family lens in health care research will support the participant's ability to make an informed choice regarding participation and may ultimately enhance the experience of participants and their families and study outcomes.

Understanding parents' decision-making on participation in clinical trials in children's heart surgery: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES

Few children undergoing heart surgery are recruited to clinical trials and little is known about the views and attitudes of parents towards trials. This study explored parents' perspectives on decision-making about their child's participation in a clinical trial during their elective cardiac surgery.

DESIGN

Qualitative interview study.

SETTING

Single-centre substudy of a multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial to investigate the effects of remote ischaemic preconditioning in children undergoing cardiac surgery.

PARTICIPANTS

Parents of children approached to participate in the trial, both consenters and decliners.

METHODS

Semistructured interviews were conducted face-to-face or by telephone following discharge, digitally audio-recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed.

RESULTS

Of 46 patients approached for the trial, 24 consenting and 2 declining parents agreed to participate in an interview (21 mothers, 5 fathers). Parental decision-making about research was influenced by (1) potential risks or additional procedures; (2) personal benefit and altruism for the 'cardiac community'; (3) information, preparation, timing and approach; and (4) trust in the clinical team and collaboration with researchers. All of these were placed within the context of their understanding of the trial and knowledge of research.

CONCLUSIONS

Parents of children undergoing cardiac surgery attach value to clinical research and are supportive of clinical trials when there is no or minimal perceived additional risk. These findings enhance our understanding of the factors that influence parents' decision-making and should be used to inform the design and conduct of future paediatric surgical trials.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ISRCTN12923441; Pre-results.

The Voice of Parents of Children With a Congenital Anomaly - A EUROlinkCAT Study

EUROlinkCAT aims to investigate the health and educational outcomes of children with congenital anomalies for the first 10 years of their lives. We also aim to facilitate the development of a more reciprocal relationship between families with children with congenital anomalies, health and social care professionals, and researchers by conducting focus groups. The aim of the focus groups and parent interviews was to investigate parental experiences of having a child with a heart defect requiring surgery, cleft lip, spina bifida or Down Syndrome and to identify their research priorities. In total, seven interviews with 12 parents and eight focus groups with 58 parents and two caregivers were conducted in four European countries. We found that parents request more positive information with a focus on quality of life and what the children can achieve rather than solely on the negative aspects and limitations of the congenital anomaly. Some parents also highlighted discrepancies between the family's need for support and the lack of support received from the local authority. Finally, it was challenging for the parents to address specific research priorities. Future research should therefore focus on the potential of a child with a congenital anomaly.

Keep Calm and Carry on: Parental Opinions on Improving Clinical Dietary Trials for Young Children

Recruitment can be an issue for paediatric research. We aimed to investigate parental opinions of paediatric clinical assessments, and to combine findings with recent literature to inform the design of a clinical dietary trial. We used convenience sampling to recruit 17 parents of children aged 2–6 years from two community playgroups in Perth, Western Australia. Three focus groups considered proposed child assessments, study design, and potential study enrolment. Qualitative thematic analysis of focus group transcripts used NVivo 11 (QSR, Melbourne, VIC, Australia). Four main parental concerns emerged, presented here with solutions combining parent responses and relevant literature. (1) Parent and child needle fear: a good experience and a good phlebotomist help keep participants calm, and offering additional analysis (e.g., iron status) makes blood tests more worthwhile. (2) Concerns about children’s age, stage, understanding and ability to cope: create a themed adventure to help explain concepts and make procedures fun. (3) Persistent misunderstandings involving study purpose, design, randomization and equipoise: provide clear information via multiple platforms, and check understanding before enrolment. (4) Parental decisions to enrol children focused on time commitment, respectful treatment of their child, confronting tests and altruism: child-centred methodologies can help address concerns and keep participants engaged throughout procedures. Addressing the concerns identified could improve participation in a range of paediatric health interventions.