Using a blended format (videoconference and face to face) to deliver a group psychosocial intervention to parents of autistic children

Abstract

Background Parents and carers of autistic children report poor mental health. Autism stigma is a strong contributing factor to poor parental mental health, yet there are currently no interventions available that are evidenced to improve parents' mental health in part through increasing resilience to stigma. Childcare and travel are well known barriers to attendance and attrition rates for this population are high. Methods A blended format psychosocial group support intervention was developed with the aim to improve parental mental health. Three sessions were delivered face to face, and five sessions via videoconference. A secret Facebook group was set up to support the intervention and increase retention rates. Mixed methods were used to assess the feasibility and acceptability of this mode of delivery for both the facilitator and service users. Attendance rates, fidelity and implementation issues are discussed. A qualitative focus group was conducted ( n = 9) to explore the acceptability to the participants. Framework analysis was used to analyse the findings. Results Attendance rates were high with the online sessions having significantly higher attendance rates than the face to face sessions. The findings of the qualitative evaluation suggest that participants are positive about videoconferencing for a group support intervention. The facilitator reported sound quality, background distractions and late arrivals as challenges; the participants on the other hand, reported that the benefits far outweighed the negatives. Suggestions for improvement are made. Conclusions The results suggest that videoconference is a well-received method to provide a group support intervention to parents. Only preliminary conclusions can be drawn, owing to the small sample size.

A qualitative study exploring experiences and support needs of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder in Singapore

“…Technology such as a smartphone applications can be harnessed to provide this. Establishing dedicated emotional support provisions, for example, through formal parent support networks or a group psychosocial intervention (Lodder et al, 2020) will also be useful for parents. This could potentially offer the ASD community with a platform to gather and support each other.…”

Assessing the Satisfaction and Acceptability of an Online Parent Coaching Intervention: A Mixed-Methods Approach

“…Group-based therapy provided psychosocial support for parents of a child with ASD ( Farmer and Reupert, 2013 ), and videoconferencing was an acceptable and feasible approach of delivery for group-based interventions in this population ( Parsons et al, 2017 ; Lodder et al, 2020 ). In a recent systematic review ( Sutherland et al, 2018 ), parent satisfaction was reported as an outcome variable in nine of fourteen studies, and only three studies were intervention design via telehealth, with all three reporting a high level of satisfaction ( Ingersoll and Berger, 2015 ; Hepburn et al, 2016 ; Pickard et al, 2016 ).…”

What works for whom with telemental health? A rapid realist review

“…for practice and repetition of training as needed; 4) written guides for different technology platforms that give step-by-step instructions, including for how to set up IDs and passwords, sent out with appointment letters; 5) brief and direct training sessions offered to service users before their online appointment, doing a trial run of using the technology beforehand, or increasing virtual contact duration to accommodate learning. CMO 1.4: Impact of technology related disruptions [38,55,66,[86][87][88][89][90][91][92] When technological issues (including connection problems and device issues) lead to disruptions to online sessions and there is no pre-arranged backup method of contact (e.g. a plan to connect by telephone instead of video-call if needed) (C), the quality of the intervention is diminished (O1) there is a loss of empathic connection between client and therapist (O2) and the sessions may not be able to continue (O3), as the flow of the conversation is interrupted and session time reduced, for example, when having to ask the other person to repeat what has been said, or when cut off completely, leaving staff and service users potentially feeling distracted, frustrated, awkward and upset (particularly if there is a threat of therapy withdrawal due to missed sessions) (M).…”

“…switch to telemental health as an option when a service user is unable at short notice to attend a face-to-face appointment. CMO 2.3: Involvement and support for family and friends [89,101,[132][133][134] When family and other supporters are invited (with service user agreement) to join telemental health sessions (C), this may result in more holistic treatment planning and greater engagement of family and others in supporting service users (O1), may help improve therapeutic relationships and treatment success (O2), increase engagement (O3), reduce some uncertainty and anxiety around treatment (O4), and may increase satisfaction of and support for family and friends (O5), as family and other supporters may be able to participate in care planning meetings and assessments that they would have found it difficult to attend faceto-face, increasing their engagement in supporting service users and their understanding of their difficulties and care plans (M). This is especially helpful for 1) those living in locations different from their family and friends or where family and friends have caring or work commitments preventing them from attending meetings face-to-face 2) children and young people (as this may allow their parents to be more involved in their care); 3) service users in inpatient settings where family and friends cannot visit (for example, because of epidemicrelated restrictions) or a hospital is in a remote location.…”