Pilot workshop in minor childhood illness
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot study to evaluate the impact of an educational workshop for parents of children aged 0-4 years on parent and carer confidence to manage minor childhood illness
IRAS ID
276123
Contact name
Magdy El-Gohary
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Winchester
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 28 days
Research summary
Children under 5 years of age make up a disproportionately high number of general practice (GP) and emergency department (ED) consultations, with children and young people making up 25% of all ED visits. We seek to gather pilot data on the impact on parent/carer confidence of attending an educational workshop on managing common childhood conditions. The project aligns with the NHS Plan’s priority to support people to manage their own (and their families’) health, and in order to ease the burden on overstretched emergency services. This study has the potential to have a significant impact on policy. If pilot data shows a positive effect on parental confidence and health seeking behaviour, we will seek funding for a multi-site study. If this demonstrates that this strategy is effective, this low burden intervention could easily be rolled out across the local area and potentially to across other regions. Parents/carers bringing their children (aged 0-4 years) to see a health professional at Shirley Health Partnership will be invited to attend an educational workshop on common childhood conditions. It will be delivered at the GP practice in an informal setting for 6-8 parents and a healthcare assistant will deliver the content and facilitate the session. We will run 10 workshops. The sessions will last around an hour and include pre and post questionnaires. Participants will be also made aware of the qualitative component of the study. Willing participants will be contacted within two weeks post of the workshop to be interviewed (via telephone) to discuss their experiences and learnings from the workshop in more depth. The post-workshop questionnaire will be repeated at 3-4 months. Data pertaining to future attendance of children of parents involved will be assessed up to 12 months following the intervention.
REC name
Wales REC 6
REC reference
20/WA/0051
Date of REC Opinion
5 Feb 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion