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  • Children and Teens in Charge of their Health (CATCH): A protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial of solution-focused coaching to foster healthy lifestyles in childhood disability

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Paediatrics
Protocol
Children and Teens in Charge of their Health (CATCH): A protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial of solution-focused coaching to foster healthy lifestyles in childhood disability
  1. Amy C McPherson1,2,3,
  2. Elaine Biddiss1,4,
  3. Lorry Chen5,
  4. Paige Terrien Church5,6,
  5. Janke F de Groot7,8,
  6. Sarah Keenan5,
  7. Gillian King1,9,
  8. Toni Lui1,
  9. Desiree B Maltais10,11,
  10. Chantal Mérette12,
  11. Hélène Moffet10,11,
  12. Fiona Moola1,2,3,
  13. Heidi Schwellnus5
  1. 1 Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  2. 2 Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  3. 3 Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  4. 4 Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  5. 5 Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  6. 6 Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  7. 7 Child Development and Exercise Center, Wilhelmina’s Children Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
  8. 8 Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), Utrecht, Netherlands
  9. 9 Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
  10. 10 Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilita, CIUSSS-CN, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
  11. 11 Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
  12. 12 Department of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
  1. Correspondence to Dr Amy C McPherson; amcpherson{at}hollandbloorview.ca

Abstract

Introduction Children with physical disabilities are rarely included in interventions to promote healthy lifestyles, despite being at higher risk for suboptimal dietary and physical activity behaviours. The Children and Teens in Charge of their Health study explores the feasibility and acceptability of conducting a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a strengths-based, solution-focused coaching intervention for improving and sustaining physical activity and healthy dietary habits in children and young people with physical disabilities.

Methods and analysis Thirty children aged 10–18 years with a diagnosis of spina bifida or cerebral palsy who are able to set healthy lifestyle goals will be recruited from two children’s rehabilitation hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Participants will be enrolled in the study for twelve months. All participants will receive standard care and printed information about healthy lifestyles. Of the 30 participants, 15 will be randomised to receive a coaching intervention for the first 6 months. Health indicators and psychosocial outcomes will be assessed by blinded assessors four times: at the start of the trial, immediately postintervention (6 months after randomisation), and at 3 and 6 months postintervention (9 and 12 months after randomisation, respectively). Predefined success criteria will be used to assess the feasibility of trial processes such as recruitment, attrition, stratification and intervention fidelity. Acceptability and perceived impact of the intervention will be explored qualitatively.

Ethics and dissemination The study has been approved by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital’s Research Ethics Board (Ref: 17–752). A knowledge translation planning template will be used to ensure our findings have maximum reach.

Trial registration number NCT03523806.

  • health promotion
  • coaching
  • disability
  • child

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-025119

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors ACM conceptualised the project, wrote the protocol and drafted the manuscript. EB reviewed and provided input on study design. LC advised on anthropometric assessment methods and training protocols. PTC provided expertise on medical considerations for children with spina bifida and cerebral palsy and the coach training protocol. JFdeG participated in the early design of the protocol and provided expertise on physical activity assessment. SK contributed training in SFC-peds and implementation of goal attainment measures. GK provided input on the conceptual basis and key features of the SFC-peds intervention. TL provided input on the implementation of the protocol and assessment schedule. DM contributed to the conceptualisation and design of the study and writing of the protocol. CM provided expertise on randomisation methods and statistical analysis. HM contributed methodological expertise in the design of the study and the research protocol. FM contributed to writing the qualitative research and photovoice components of the protocol. HS contributed to the early conceptualisation of the protocol and study design. All authors have read and agree with the contents of the final manuscript.

    • Funding This work is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (grant #153189). The sponsor is Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. Neither the funders nor sponsor not have any role in the study design; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; or the decision to submit the report for publication.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Ethics approval Ethical approval has been obtained for this study from Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital’s Research Ethics Board (Ref # 17–752).

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Patient consent for publication Not required.