Children who are dependent on life-saving medical technological equipment are part of a small, diverse group of children who have complex, chronic conditions. This population uses medical technology such as feeding tubes, ventilators, and tracheostomies. Many of these children also require significant care at home from their parents or guardians.
Parents of technology-dependent children often struggle with balancing their personal needs with their child’s and family's needs. Researchers at Case Western Reserve University are looking for ways to help parents cope with the challenges they face when caring for this special group of children. This study will focus on parent caregivers to test ways to help them manage their day-to-day stress while caring for their technology dependent child.
The goal is to test the effectiveness of a Resourcefulness Training© (Jaclene A. Zauszniewski, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN, 1995) intervention for reduction of long-term stress and improved mental, physical health and self-management (health promotion) outcomes, by providing instruction on help-seeking and self-help skills. During face-to-face meetings, a study team member collects hair samples to measure stress levels, provides a wristband device to monitor sleep patterns, and administers questionnaires to examine the impact of the intervention on mental health, physical health, self-management and family functioning over nine months.
This study is funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research, R01NR017614 (Resourcefulness Intervention to Promote Self-Management in Parents of Technology-Dependent Children)