Clinical Implementation and Evaluation of Three Implementation Interventions for a Family-Oriented Care for Children of Mentally Ill Parents (ci-chimps): Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Multicenter Trial

Abstract

BackgroundIn Germany, approximately three million children under the age of eighteen have a mentally ill parent. These children are at an increased risk of developing a mental illness themselves (1) as well as a physical illness (2). While research has identified numerous evidence-based family-oriented interventions, little is known about how to implement such interventions effectively and efficiently in clinical practice in Germany. This implementation study (ci-chimps) evaluates three clinical implementation projects with three different implementation interventions for the optimal implementation of the tailored family-oriented preventive and therapeutic interventions in the CHIMPS-NET (children of mentally ill parents—research network) with an implementation model for children of mentally ill parents.MethodsA two-group randomized controlled multicenter trial will examine changes in family-oriented practice and aspects of implementation at baseline as well as at 12- and 24-months follow-up. The CHIMPS-Network consists of 20 clinical centers. The centers in the intervention group receive the support of all of the three implementation interventions: (1) optimal pathways to care, (2) education and a training program for professionals, and (3) systematic screening for children. The centers in the control group do not receive this specific implementation support.DiscussionWhile we know that children of mentally ill parents are an important target group to be addressed by preventive and therapeutic interventions, there is often a lack of structured implementation of family-oriented interventions in clinical practice in Germany. Using a randomized controlled multicenter trial design with a large and wide-ranging sample (clinics for adult psychiatry and clinics for child and adolescent psychiatry, university clinics and clinics at the real health care) will provide a robust understanding of implementing family-oriented changes in German clinical practice.Trial RegistrationThe CHIMPS-NET-study was registered with the German Clinical Trials Register on 2019-12-19 (DRKS00020380) and with Clinical Trials on 2020-4-30 (NCT04369625), the ci-chimps-study was registered with the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS00026217) on 2021-08-27, the Clinical Trials registration is in review process.

Different perspectives in psychiatry: how family-oriented are professionals in Germany?

“…Ci-chimps stands for “clinical implementation of CHIMPS” and is a questionnaire-based, two-group randomized controlled multicenter trial. For more information about this study see the study protocol of ci-chimps [ 21 ]. Ci-chimps is one part of a larger project, called CHIMPS-NET (children of mentally ill parents-research network), which is a stepped care model for families with a mentally ill parent.…”

Outpatient referrers as a pathway to care for a new family-centered health intervention in psychiatric clinics and how to reach them: Evaluation of an implementation strategy

“…Nevertheless, in the majority of cases, it is not possible to ensure the transfer of research results to care practice in the long term (5). There are many reasons for this, starting with the question of how well information about the existence and value of EBP is passed on to the stakeholders concerned (3,6) The CHIMPS-NET (Children of Mentally Ill Parents Network) evaluation project was already striving for the best possible implementation strategy for the sustainable anchoring of the program during project planning (7). The CHIMPS-NET focuses on the care needs of children of mentally ill parents as a more vulnerable target group.…”