Web Program Promoting Collaborative Care for Youth ADHD

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): ADHD is the most common neurobehavioral disorder of childhood and among the most prevalent chronic health conditions affecting school-aged children. The prevalence of ADHD in school-aged children ranges from 4-12 percent. Approximately 3.5 million children meet the criteria for ADHD, yet only about 50 percent of these children are adequately diagnosed and treated. While a lot is known about ADHD, a lot more can be done to effectively put this knowledge into everyday practice. One reason that many ADHD children are not adequately treated is that it can be very challenging to formulate a comprehensive approach to addressing and managing ADHD. The vast majority of efforts involve isolated efforts by school systems, parents, and treatment providers. The importance of facilitating an integrated effort, however, is paramount given that positive outcomes are achieved when interventions involve a systematic appraisal and integration of the child's total environment. The goal of this project is to assess the educational and psycho-social needs of parents, teachers, and ADHD youth and to develop and test a web-based multi-media program designed to meet and integrate these varied needs. The program will be designed for administration to school staff and parents with ADHD children. The program will focus upon providing behavioral techniques and tools that facilitate the development of effective strategies for collaboration between school and home and to promote the implementation of targeted goals for maximizing academic and personal success. In Phase I, focus groups and needs assessments will be conducted with teachers, parents, and middle- school youth. Experts in the fields of developmental, neuro, and clinical psychology will be convened to assist in creating and shaping the educational content of the program. Following initial development, parent and teacher focus group participants and the consultants will be regrouped to comment upon the prototype program and comment upon specific dimensions. Parents and teachers will also be asked to evaluate the program on usefulness, applicability and relevance to their needs. If the prototype meets feasibility criteria, a Phase II effort will be proposed and the program will be fully developed, field-tested, and prepared for marketing. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most common neurobehavioral disorder of childhood and among the most prevalent chronic health conditions affecting school-aged children. While much is known about the disorder gaps exist in finding resources that address an integrated approach to care and effectively promote communication between teachers and parents. The outcome of this SBIR project will be to develop a multi-media web-based program that focuses on behavioral and communications techniques and tools to facilitate home-school collaboration thus creating a mechanism for child with ADHD to thrive in school and the community.