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Family Counseling, Adolescents, COVID-19, Pandemics, Videoconferencing, Feasibility Studies, Outcomes of Treatment, and Therapy

Background: Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, mental health care has largely transferred its services to online platforms, using videoconferencing (VC) or teletherapy. Within the field of family therapy, however, there is little evidence on the feasibility of using VC, especially when working with whole families at the edge of care. Objective: This study investigated the feasibility of remote Functional Family Therapy (FFT), using a mixed-method approach. Method: Study 1 consisted of semi-structured interviews with 23 FFT professionals (18 female) about their experience of providing remote FFT during the COVID-19 pandemic. Study 2 included monitoring data of 209 FFT clients (46% female, Mage = 14.00) who participated in FFT during the pandemic. We compared families who received mainly in-person, mainly remote or a mix of remote and in-person on client-reported alliance, drop-out, therapist-rated outcomes, and treatment intensity using MANCOVA's and chi-square tests. Results: In Study 1 two themes emerged around experienced challenges, namely 'Feeling in control' and 'Engagement and alliance'. Two other themes emerged around adaptations, namely 'Being more on top' and 'Connecting in different ways'. In Study 2, we found that the therapeutic alliance was not related to using VC. Also, families had less between-session contact during the Engagement and Motivation Phase when receiving mainly VC, but had more sessions and longer therapy when receiving a mix of in-person and remote therapy. Conclusions: The current study suggests that providing systemic family teletherapy to families on the edge of care is feasible. Further development of systemic family teletherapy is warranted.

Universities, Medical Research, Research Administration, Feasibility Studies, Research Design, Program Development, and Minnesota

To initiate clinical research studies successfully and efficiently, it is critical to develop a strong, feasible, and well-written study protocol early in the start-up phase. The University of Minnesota's Clinical Research Support Center designed and implemented a structured Feasibility Review process in 2018 that addresses common start-up challenges such as poor study design, inappropriate outcomes, and limited resources. This process has been shown to turn an unfeasible study into a well-designed protocol that is IRB-approved with few protocol-related stipulations and well prepared for execution. It has also educated study teams on how to write better-quality and more robust protocols for subsequent studies. Once a draft protocol is available, the entire process takes just six working days and is free of charge to investigators, study teams, and departments. From 2018-2021, one hundred sixteen Feasibility Reviews (n=116) have been completed across eight schools or colleges. Mean satisfaction scores for study team members who responded were high (N=126, M=4.71 ± 0.5) on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Most respondents (96%) indicated that they planned to modify their protocol based on reviewer feedback. Open ended/ qualitative feedback was highly positive with most responses centered around the helpfulness of feasibility review, the high level of expertise, and fast turnaround time. The Feasibility Review is a valuable and multifunctional program providing timely expert guidance to study teams to efficiently and successfully launch and execute clinical research studies. It can be easily replicated, adapted, and implemented at other institutions to increase the quality and efficacy of academic research.

Foreign Countries, Independent Study, Feasibility Studies, Electronic Publishing, Portfolios (Background Materials), Public Schools, Secondary School Students, Educational Technology, Program Effectiveness, Self Management, Portfolio Assessment, and Kenya

To align with Kenya 2030 Vision of education for self-reliance, there is a growing need for classroom instruction that develops students' capacity to be in control of their learning. This paper reports a two-year study that tested feasibility of implementing ePEARL, an e-portfolio, in the context of Kenyan public schools. By design, the digital portfolio supports the key learning processes though the phases of self-regulated learning--forethought, performance, and self-reflection. In this study, students (N=137) from four secondary classrooms used the tool as part of classroom instruction to complete their project assignments. Repeated measures analyses revealed that, over-time, students who demonstrated fuller use of ePEARL made significantly higher gains and reported higher level of self-regulated strategies compared to their classmates who hardly used the tool. The results suggest that in order to yield important benefits, the tool should be meaningfully integrated into classroom instruction.