DAISY

A randomised controlled trial of a digital parent support programme for parents of children with intellectual disabilities: The Digital Family Support study.

We will complete a study to see if an online family support programme (Stepping Stones Online) improves behaviour and emotional difficulties in children with learning disabilities. We also want to find out if parent carers might benefit directly from Stepping Stones Online, perhaps boosting their wellbeing.

Many children with learning disabilities experience significant behaviour and emotional difficulties. Support programmes can assist families with these challenges, but accessing such supports can be difficult for parents. Digital technology, such as online programmes, is one way to provide support for parents caring for a child with learning disabilities. Accessing programmes online can sometimes be easier for families than attending sessions in person.

We have planned a study to test the potential benefits of Stepping Stones Online. In our study, Stepping Stones Online will include some telephone or online support from other parents of children with learning disabilities (peer support). Families will be able to take part in the research if they have a child with learning disabilities aged 2-11 years and they are worried about their child’s behaviour. We plan to include 432 families. Whether families will receive Stepping Stones Online straightaway or later will be decided by chance (this is called ‘randomisation’). We will collect information from parent carers before families are randomised and around 6 months and 12 months later. To find out more about what families think about Stepping Stones Online, we will interview some parent carers. We will also interview the family carers who offer the additional support alongside Stepping Stones Online.

Our project will break down barriers that diverse families may experience. We will include funding to pay for data and/or work out ways to give families access to suitable devices. We have also worked with a parent carers advisory group to plan this research and we will continue to work with parent carers throughout the research. We want to make sure that families, and professionals and services, hear about the findings of the research at the end. We will work with our parent carers advisors to co-produce materials to tell people about the results of the study. This might include fact sheets about Stepping Stones Online from a parent perspective, an understanding of the results of the study, and how to get access to and get the most out of Stepping Stones Online. We will also share information about the study findings with Local Authorities, organisations involved in supporting families and children with learning disabilities, and the public. We will also publish the findings from the study in a research journal and present the findings at research conferences.