Background: Physiological and environmental risk factors interact to undermine blood glucose control during early adolescence. This has been documented to be associated with family conflict and poor adherence to diabetes management tasks. Family Teamwork is an efficacious program demonstrated to enhance family communication and reduce conflict during this vulnerable period. It was designed to be delivered to families in-person, which limited reach and potential impact. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to present the protocol for adapting Family Teamwork for Web-based delivery. Methods: Formative research with health care providers, parents, and adolescents will help modify Family Teamwork for Web-based delivery by a relational agent (ie, a computerized character with human-like features and actions). Sessions will be interactive, requiring both parent and adolescent participation, with the relational agent serving as a health coach. After programming, usability testing will be conducted to help ensure the program is easy to use. Video and instructional materials will be developed to facilitate use, and a small pilot study will be conducted to assess feasibility. Families will provide written informed consent prior to participation in any phase of the study. The Institutional Review Board at Baylor College of Medicine reviewed and approved the protocol (H-37245). Results: Formative research is underway. No results are available at this time. Conclusions: This research has the potential to make an important contribution to diabetes management by using technology to enhance the reach of an efficacious program.
Background: Family conflict can reduce adolescent adherence to type 1 diabetes management tasks. The Family Teamwork in-person intervention was shown to be efficacious in reducing conflict and low adherence to diabetes-related tasks. Its reach and potential impact, however, were limited by the need to deliver the intervention sessions in person. Relational agents (ie, computerized versions of humans) have been shown to appeal to diverse audiences and may be an acceptable replacement for a human in technology-based behavior change interventions. Objective: The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a pilot study assessing feasibility and acceptability of Diabetes Family Teamwork Online, an adapted version of the Family Teamwork intervention, delivered over the internet and guided by a relational agent. Methods: Parent-adolescent dyads were recruited through a diabetes care clinic at a large tertiary care hospital in the southwestern United States. A one-group design, with assessments at baseline, immediate postintervention, and 3 months later, was used to assess feasibility. A priori feasibility criteria included an assessment of recruitment, completion, attrition, program satisfaction, therapeutic alliance, attitudes toward the relational agent, and data collection. The institutional review board at Baylor College of Medicine approved the protocol (H-37245). Results: Twenty-seven adolescents aged 10 to 15 years with type 1 diabetes and their parents were enrolled. Criteria used to assess feasibility were (1) recruitment goals were met (n=20), (2) families completed ≥75% of the modules, (3) attrition rate was ≤10%, (4) program satisfaction was high (≥80% of families), (5) therapeutic alliance was high (average score of ≥60/84), (6) families expressed positive attitudes toward the relational agent (average item score of ≥5 on ≥4 items), (7) ≥80% of data were collected at post 1 and post 2, and (8) few technical issues (≤10%) occurred during intervention delivery. All feasibility criteria were met. Qualitative data confirmed that adolescents and parents had positive reactions to both the content and approach. Conclusions: The Diabetes Family Teamwork Online intervention proved to be a feasible and acceptable method for enhancing communication around diabetes management tasks in families with an adolescent who has type 1 diabetes. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID): RR2-10.2196/resprot.5817