Development of a Caregiver-Reported Experience Measure for Pediatric Hospital-to-Home Transitions

Garnering effective telehealth to help optimize multidisciplinary team engagement (GET2HOME) for children with medical complexity: Protocol for a pragmatic randomized control trial

BACKGROUND

Children and young adults with medical complexity (CMC) experience high rates of healthcare reutilization following hospital discharge. Prior studies have identified common hospital-to-home transition failures that may increase the risk for reutilization, including medication, technology and equipment issues, financial concerns, and confusion about which providers can help with posthospitalization needs. Few interventions have been developed and evaluated for CMC during this transition period.

OBJECTIVE

We will compare the effectiveness of the garnering effective telehealth 2 help optimize multidisciplinary team engagement (GET2HOME) transition bundle intervention to the standard hospital-based care coordination discharge process by assessing healthcare reutilization and patient- and family-centered outcomes.

DESIGNS, SETTINGS, AND PARTICIPANTS

We will conduct a pragmatic 2-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) comparing the GET2HOME bundle intervention to the standard hospital-based care discharge process on CMC hospitalized and discharged from hospital medicine at two sites of our pediatric medical center between November 2022 and February 2025. CMC of any age will be identified as having complex chronic disease using the Pediatric Medical Complexity Algorithm tool. We will exclude CMC who live independently, live in skilled nursing facilities, are in custody of the county, or are hospitalized for suicidal ideation or end-of-life care.

INTERVENTION

We will randomize participants to the bundle intervention or standard hospital-based care coordination discharge process. The bundle intervention includes (1) predischarge telehealth huddle with inpatient providers, outpatient providers, patients, and their families; (2) care management discharge task tracker; and (3) postdischarge telehealth huddle with similar participants within 7 days of discharge. As part of the pragmatic design, families will choose if they want to complete the postdischarge huddle. The standard hospital-based discharge process includes a pharmacist, social worker, and care management support when consulted by the inpatient team but does not include huddles between providers and families.

MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES

Primary outcome will be 30-day urgent healthcare reutilization (unplanned readmission, emergency department, and urgent care visits). Secondary outcomes include 7-day urgent healthcare reutilization, patient- and family-reported transition quality, quality of life, and time to return to baseline using electronic health record and surveys at 7, 30, 60, and 90 days following discharge. We will also evaluate heterogeneity of treatment effect for the intervention across levels of financial strain and for CMC with high-intensity neurologic impairment. The primary analysis will follow the intention-to-treat principle with logistic regression used to study reutilization outcomes and generalized linear mixed modeling to study repeated measures of patient- and family-reported outcomes over time.

RESULTS

This pragmatic RCT is designed to evaluate the effectiveness of enhanced discharge transition support, including telehealth huddles and a care management discharge tool, for CMC and their families. Enrollment began in November 2022 and is projected to complete in February 2025. Primary analysis completion is anticipated in July 2025 with reporting of results following.

Development of a scale to measure expected concussion reporting behavior

Background

Most concussion education aims to increase athlete self-report of concussive symptoms. Although the population burden of concussion is high, frequency with which this injury occurs on a given sports team in a given season is relatively low. This means that powering concussion education evaluation studies to measure change in post-injury symptom reporting behavior requires what is often a prohibitively large sample size. Thus, evaluation studies are typically powered to measure proximal cognitions. Expected reporting behavior, a cognition that reflects planned and reactive decision-making, is a theoretically indicated construct for inclusion in evaluation studies. However, previously no scales were available to measure this construct with demonstrated reliability and validity among youth athletes. The objective of this study was to develop and assess the validity of a brief single-factor scale to measure expected youth athlete concussion reporting behavior (CR-E) in a sample of youth athletes.

Methods

A mixed methods approach was used, including cognitive interviews with youth athletes, and quantitative item reduction and validation. Participants were youth athletes (aged 9–16) from the Seattle metropolitan and rural south-Georgia regions. After refining an initial pool of items using cognitive interviews with a diverse group of youth athletes (n = 20), a survey containing these items was administered to youth soccer and football players (n = 291). Item reduction statistics and sequential confirmatory factor analyses were used to reduce the initial scale using a randomly selected half of the sample. Then, a final confirmatory factor analysis and validation tests were applied to the other half of the sample of youth athletes. Predictive validation was conducted longitudinally in a separate sample of youth athletes (n = 155).

Results

Internal consistency was high (alpha = 0.89), model fit was excellent, validation tests were in the hypothesized directions, and the scale was feasible to use. Using the finalized 4-item scale, we observed that less than one-third of youth soccer and football athletes expect to “always” tell their coach about symptoms of a suspected concussion.

Conclusions

The CR-E measure should be included in future studies evaluating concussion education programming in youth athlete populations.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40621-021-00364-4.

Coached, Coordinated, Enhanced Neonatal Transition (CCENT): protocol for a multicentre pragmatic randomised controlled trial of transition-to-home support for parents of high-risk infants

INTRODUCTION

Having an infant admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is associated with increased parental stress, anxiety and depression. Enhanced support for parents may decrease parental stress and improve subsequent parent and child outcomes. The Coached, Coordinated, Enhanced Neonatal Transition (CCENT) programme is a novel bundled intervention of psychosocial support delivered by a nurse navigator that includes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based coaching, care coordination and anticipatory education for parents of high-risk infants in the NICU through the first year at home. The primary objective is to evaluate the impact of the intervention on parent stress at 12 months.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This is a multicentre pragmatic randomised controlled superiority trial with 1:1 allocation to the CCENT model versus control (standard neonatal follow-up). Parents of high-risk infants (n=236) will be recruited from seven NICUs across three Canadian provinces. Intervention participants are assigned a nurse navigator who will provide the intervention for 12 months. Outcomes are measured at baseline, 6 weeks, 4, 12 and 18 months. The primary outcome measure is the total score of the Parenting Stress Index Fourth Edition Short Form at 12 months. Secondary outcomes include parental mental health, empowerment and health-related quality of life for calculation of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). A cost-effectiveness analysis will examine the incremental cost of CCENT versus usual care per QALY gained. Qualitative interviews will explore parent and healthcare provider experiences with the intervention.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Research ethics approval was obtained from Clinical Trials Ontario, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Ethics Board (REB), The Hospital for Sick Children REB, UBC Children's and Women's REB and McGill University Health Centre REB. Results will be shared with Canadian level III NICUs, neonatal follow-up programmes and academic forums.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT03350243).

One Call Away: Addressing a Safety Gap for Urgent Issues Post Discharge

OBJECTIVES

The transition period from hospitalization to outpatient care can be high risk for pediatric patients. Our aim was to profile the use of a "safety net" for families through provision of specific inpatient provider contact information for urgent issues post discharge.

METHODS

In this prospective study, we implemented an updated after-visit summary that directed families to call the hospital operator and specifically ask for the pediatric hospital medicine attending on call if they were unable to reach their primary care provider (PCP) with an urgent postdischarge concern. Education for nursing staff, operators, and pediatric hospital medicine providers was completed, and contact information was automatically populated into the after-visit summary. Information collected included the number of calls, the topic, time spent, whether the family contacted the PCP first, and the time of day. Descriptive statistics and Fisher's exact test were used to summarize findings.

RESULTS

Over a 13-month period, of 5145 discharges, there were 47 postdischarge phone calls, which averaged to 3.6 calls per month. The average length of time spent on a call was 21 minutes. For 30% of calls, families had tried contacting their PCPs first, and 55% of calls occurred at night. Topics of calls included requesting advice about symptoms, time line for reevaluation, and assistance with medications.

CONCLUSIONS

This safety net provided families with real-time problem-solving for an urgent need post discharge, which included triaging patient symptoms at home, counseling on medication questions, information about the time line of illness recovery, and provision of additional resources.

Linking Parent Confidence and Hospitalization through Mobile Health: A Multisite Pilot Study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the associations between parent confidence in avoiding hospitalization and subsequent hospitalization in children with medical complexity (CMC); and feasibility/acceptability of a texting platform, Assessing Confidence at Times of Increased Vulnerability (ACTIV), to collect repeated measures of parent confidence.

STUDY DESIGN

This prospective cohort study purposively sampled parent-child dyads (n = 75) in 1 of 3 complex care programs for demographic diversity to pilot test ACTIV for 3 months. At random days/times every 2 weeks, parents received text messages asking them to rate confidence in their child avoiding hospitalization in the next month, from 1 (not confident) to 10 (fully confident). Unadjusted and adjusted generalized estimating equations with repeated measures evaluated associations between confidence and hospitalization in the next 14 days. Post-study questionnaires and focus groups assessed ACTIV's feasibility/acceptability.

RESULTS

Parents were 77.3% mothers and 20% Spanish-speaking. Texting response rate was 95.6%. Eighteen hospitalizations occurred within 14 days after texting, median (IQR) 8 (2-10) days. When confidence was <5 vs ≥5, adjusted odds (95% CI) of hospitalization within 2 weeks were 4.02 (1.20-13.51) times greater. Almost all (96.8%) reported no burden texting, one-third desired more frequent texts, and 93.7% were very likely to continue texting. Focus groups explored the meaning of responses and suggested ACTIV improvements.

CONCLUSIONS

In this demographically diverse multicenter pilot, low parent confidence predicted impending CMC hospitalization. Text messaging was feasible and acceptable. Future work will test efficacy of real-time interventions triggered by parent-reported low confidence.

Adaptation of the parent readiness for hospital discharge scale with mothers of preterm infants discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the psychometric properties of a new Persian translation of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale.

BACKGROUND

Globally, one in 10 newborns are born preterm and many require care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A primary role of NICU nurses is to assure parents are well prepared to take their newborns home from the hospital. Assessment of parent perception of discharge readiness provides important input into discharge decisions. The availability of reliable and valid instruments tested within the geographical and cultural context is needed for a comprehensive assessment of predischarge readiness, so that parent needs can be identified and the necessary interventions designed and implemented.

DESIGN

This psychometrics study included a convenience sample of 200 mothers with preterm infants being discharged from the NICU of Shahid Sadoughi Hospital in Yazd, Iran. The original 29-item version of the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale-Parent questionnaire was translated into Persian using the standard forward-backward method. Face, content and construct validity (principal components analysis), and reliability (internal consistency-Cronbach's alpha) were assessed. Methods followed STROBE criteria as applicable (see Appendix S1).

RESULTS

The content validity index and content validity ratio were both 0.93. Construct validity testing identified 6 factors (mother and infant physical-psychological readiness, expected support, knowledge of future events and care, knowledge of infant personal care, pain and therapeutic interventions). Using Cronbach's alpha coefficient, the reliability of the whole instrument was estimated to be 0.87.

CONCLUSION

The Persian Readiness for Hospital Discharge-Parental Form for use with mothers of preterm infants being discharged from an Iranian NICU has acceptable validity and reliability.

RELEVANCE TO PRACTICE

This tool can be used before discharge to determine the needs of mothers and design the necessary measures to improve quality of discharge care.

Validation of a Parent-Reported Hospital-to-Home Transition Experience Measure

OBJECTIVES

The Pediatric Transition Experience Measure (P-TEM) is an 8-item, parent-reported measure that globally assesses hospital-to-home transition quality from discharge through follow-up. Our goal was to examine the convergent validity of the P-TEM with existing, validated process and outcome measures of pediatric hospital-to-home transitions.

METHODS

This was a prospective, cohort study of English-speaking parents and legal guardians who completed the P-TEM after their children's discharge from a tertiary children's hospital between January 2016 and October 2016. By using data from 3 surveys, we assessed convergent validity by examining associations between total and domain-specific P-TEM scores (0-100 scale) and 4 pediatric hospital-to-home transition validation measures: (1) Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Discharge Composite, (2) Center of Excellence on Quality of Care Measures for Children With Complex Needs parent-reported transition measures, (3) change in health-related quality of life from admission to postdischarge, and (4) 30-day emergency department revisits or readmissions.

RESULTS

P-TEM total scores were 7.5 points (95% confidence interval: 4.6 to 10.4) higher for participants with top-box responses on the Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Discharge Composite compared with those of participants with lower Discharge Composite scores. Participants with highet P-TEM scores (ie, top-box responses) had 6.3-points-greater improvement (95% confidence interval: 2.8 to 9.8) in health-related quality of life compared with participants who reported lower P-TEM scores. P-TEM scores were not significantly associated with 7- or 30-day reuse.

CONCLUSIONS

The P-TEM demonstrated convergent validity with existing hospital-to-home process and outcome validation measures in a population of hospitalized children.

Parent Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale: Psychometrics and Association With Postdischarge Outcomes

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this study is to validate the Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) for use with parents of hospitalized children. PedRHDS is a structured tool for a discharge readiness assessment before pediatric discharge.

METHODS

Using combined data from four studies with 417 parents, psychometric testing and item reduction proceeded with principal component analysis for factor structure delineation, Cronbach's alpha for reliability estimation, and regression analysis for predictive validity.

RESULTS

A 23-item PedRHDS retained the a priori factor structure. Reliability ranged from 0.73 to 0.85 for the 23-item and 10- and 8-item short scales. PedRHDS (all forms) was associated with postdischarge coping difficulty (explaining 12%-16% of variance) and readmission (odds ratio = 0.71-0.80).

DISCUSSION

The PedRHDS and both short forms (PedRHDS-SF10 and PedRHDS-SF8) are reliable and valid measures of parental discharge readiness that can be used as outcome metrics of hospital care and risk indicators for postdischarge coping difficulty and readmission.

Caregivers' Perceptions and Hospital Experience After a Brief Resolved Unexplained Event: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The American Academy of Pediatrics published guidelines for evaluation and management of lower-risk infants for a brief resolved unexplained event (BRUE). The guideline identified gaps in knowledge related to caregiver satisfaction, anxiety, and family-centered educational strategies to improve caregiver experience and patient outcomes. The objective of this study was to understand caregivers' experience with hospitalization for infants with BRUE, including their perception of the hospital stay, the diagnosis of BRUE, and their feelings toward the upcoming discharge from the hospital.

METHODS

We conducted a qualitative study using semistructured interviews with caregivers of infants aged 0 to 12 months who were admitted to a quaternary care children's hospital for a BRUE. Interviews were conducted within 24 hours of discharge. Two investigators coded transcripts and identified themes using consensus.

RESULTS

Eighteen caregivers of 13 infants were interviewed. No infants met criteria for being low risk according to the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines. The coding scheme produced 3 major themes. First, parents felt reassured by hospital monitoring, diagnostic evaluation, and staff support in the hospital. Second, parents felt unsettled by the uncertainty of the child's condition and whether BRUE's "unexplainable" quality is understood as being part of normal infant behavior. Third, these themes manifested as conflicting emotions about caregivers' readiness for discharge.

CONCLUSIONS

Although hospital monitoring may provide reassurance for some caregivers, they continue to struggle with the uncertainty of the diagnosis. Caregiver perspectives can inform physicians' strategies to improve hospital experience and discharge readiness.