Toolkit for parents & teachers of chronically ill children with school absences

描述（由申请人提供）：由 KDH 研究与传播 (KDHRC) 提交的快速小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 申请的目的是开发和评估学校时间工具包 (Toolkit)，以支持患有慢性病和间歇性上学 (CICISA) 的小学适龄儿童的家长和教师。患有慢性疾病（例如哮喘、癌症、糖尿病和其他对身体和医疗影响持续超过三个月的疾病）的儿童面临间歇性缺课的风险，这可能会对他们的学业和心理社会结果产生负面影响。获取和确保学校服务以及因缺勤而简化进出学校的负担严重落在 CICISA 的家长和老师身上，并可能导致他们的压力、抑郁和焦虑增加。该工具包旨在通过提高家长和教师对管理 CICISA 教育需求的知识、态度和自我效能来减轻这一负担，为家长和教师提供理解、引导和倡导 CICISA 学校服务的实用技能，并减轻他们的压力并提高他们的应对能力。有了这些改进的技能和减轻的压力，教师和家长将为 CICISA 创造一个更有支持性的学校环境，其特点是有更多的入学机会。该工具包将是一套全面、基于证据的综合印刷和多媒体材料，托管在一个交互式网站上。 对工具包的需求是巨大的。在美国，大约有 440 万患有慢性病的儿童因患病而无法上学。家长和教师是帮助 CICISA 获得学校服务、因缺勤而进出学校的过渡以及建立支持以帮助 CICISA 取得成功的关键角色。然而，家长和教师在向 CICISA 提供所需支持时面临多重挑战，由此产生的负担可能会导致压力和抑郁风险增加。然而，通过适当的支持（例如工具包提供的支持），家长和教师可以帮助 CICISA 在学校度过更多时间，并避免通常与慢性疾病和间歇性缺勤相关的负面学业后果。 在工具包的第一阶段，我们将与该领域的专家小组进行形成性研究，与家长和教师以及家长/教师/管理员基层项目开发团队进行在线需求评估。然后，我们将开发工具包原型，其中包括印刷版家长和教师指南以及网站架构计划。最后，我们将对原型进行可行性评估 使用准实验、预测试/后测试小组设计来检查工具包原型在多大程度上改变了家长和教师的知识、态度和自我效能。如果家长和教师在以下方面取得了统计上显着的进步，则该工具包将被认为是可行的： 从测试前到测试后的知识、态度或自我效能感。 在第二阶段，我们将通过拍摄流媒体视频片段和编写交互式网站来最终确定工具包。然后我们将进行结果评估，其中包括三项研究。前两项研究将考察家长和教师从测试前到测试后在知识、态度、自我效能、技能和压力/应对方面的变化。第三次评估将是案例研究考试，并将探讨家长和教师使用工具包如何影响为 CICISA 创造一个更具支持性的学校环境。这三项评估将共同提供有关工具包证据基础的信息，作为传播的基础，并为学术出版提供丰富的数据。 总之，该工具包将满足为 CICISA 家长和教师提供更多支持的书面需求。该工具包将提供这种支持，并提高家长和教师为 CICISA 创建支持性学校环境的能力，同时为有关这些人群需求的科学文献做出贡献。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The objective of this Fast Track Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) application, submitted by KDH Research and Communication (KDHRC), is to develop and evaluate the School TIME Toolkit (Toolkit) to support parents and teachers of elementary school-aged children who have a chronic illness and intermittent school attendance (CICISA). Children with chronic illnesses, such as asthma, cancer, diabetes and other illnesses with physical and medical effects lasting longer than three months are at risk of intermittent school absences which can negatively impact their academic and psychosocial outcomes. The burden of navigating and securing school services and easing transitions into and out of school because of absences falls heavily on the parents and teachers of CICISA and can result in their increased stress, depression, and anxiety. The Toolkit aims to reduce this burden by increasing parents' and teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy toward managing the educational needs of CICISA, providing parents and teachers with practical skills to understand, navigate, and advocate for school services for CICISA, and also decrease their stress and increase their coping abilities. Armed with these improved skills and lower stress, teachers and parents will then contribute to a more supportive school environment for CICISA characterized by greater access to school. The Toolkit will be a comprehensive, evidence-based, integrated set of print and multimedia materials, hosted on an interactive website. The need for the Toolkit is significant. Approximately 4.4 million children with a chronic illness in te United States experience disruption to school because of their illness. Parents and teachers are key players in helping CICISA access school services, navigating transitions into and out of school because of absences, and establishing support to help CICISA succeed. However, parents and teachers face multiple challenges in providing CICISA with the support they need, and the resulting burden can lead to increased risk for stress and depression. With proper support, however, such as that offered by the Toolkit, parents and teachers can help CICISA spend more time in school and avoid the negative academic consequences often associated with chronic illness and intermittent absence. In Phase I of the Toolkit, we will conduct formative research with a panel of experts in the field, an online needs assessment with parents and teachers, and a parent/teacher/administrator grassroots program development team. We will then develop the Toolkit prototype, which will consist of the print parent and teacher guides and a website architecture plan. Finally, we will conduct a feasibility evaluation of the prototype using a quasi-experimental, pretest/post-test group design to examine the extent to which the Toolkit prototype changes parents' and teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy. The Toolkit will be considered feasible if parents and teachers show statistically significant gains in knowledge, attitudes, or self-efficacy from pretest to post test. In Phase II, we will finalize th Toolkit by filming footage of streaming video and programming an interactive website. We will then conduct an outcome evaluation that will include three studies. The first two studies will examine changes in knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, skills, and stress/coping from pretest to post test in parents and teachers. The third evaluation will be a case study examination and will explore how use of the Toolkit by parents and teachers can impact the creation of a more supportive school environment for CICISA. Together, the three evaluations will provide information on the evidence-base of the Toolkit as a foundation for dissemination, as well as a wealth of data for academic publishing. In summary, the Toolkit will meet a documented need for greater support for parents and teachers of CICISA. The Toolkit will provide this support and increase parents' and teachers' ability to create a supportive school environment for CICISA, while simultaneously contributing to the scientific literature on the needs of these populations.