Table 2

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria
Types of studies	Any reports of interventions using a recognised study design (including primary or secondary research). Interventions must aim to improve health and well-being, functioning or skills in parents of children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN).
Setting	Studies undertaken in any research setting (eg, acute, primary care, community) will be included, as long as the intervention could potentially be delivered within routine care in an acute setting.
Population	‘Parent’ may include anyone with parenting responsibility. CSHCN: children who have or are at increased risk of a chronic physical, developmental, behavioural or emotional condition and require healthcare and related services of a type or amount beyond that required by children generally.
Intervention	Interventions must include parents directly. They may include only parents or parents alongside children and/or other family members. Interventions may include but are not limited to peer-support, listening and encouraging, education, training, enablement, modelling or environmental restructuring (eg, care environments). Single disease studies will be included (eg, cardiac conditions, cancer, metabolic conditions) as long as they meet the above inclusion criteria, as well as studies that include parents of children with a variety of clinical conditions.
Outcomes	Improved parent–child attachment or parenting health, well-being, functioning or skills. ‘Health and well-being’ may include patient-reported outcome measures, happiness, psychological adjustment or adaptation, quality of life, resilience, coping or self-efficacy. It may also include reduction in negative outcomes including stress, anxiety, depression or physical health measures. Parental functioning and skills refers to a range of parenting behaviours including nurturing, discipline, teaching, monitoring and management.26
Exclusion criteria
Studies on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, depression or other mental health conditions in the absence of comorbidities. Any studies which do not report parent outcomes. Interventions that are not adaptable to delivery by generalist healthcare staff or lay workers (eg, specialist psychotherapy techniques). Studies which use parent-based interventions but only measure child well-being or disease related outcomes such as medication adherence. Studies that focus on acute conditions only (eg, acute pneumonia). Studies that focus only on end of life care.