Objective: The study purpose was to describe feasibility of implementation of the Reaching Out to Kids with Emotional Trauma (ROcKET) intervention. We hypothesised that the ROcKET Intervention would be feasible in a poor resource school.
Design: We performed a single-arm, single-centr feasibility study of an intervention pilot, based on the RE-AIM framework.
Setting: The intervention was delivered in a single K-4th elementary charter school in the Nashville, TN area, in a low-resource community.
Participants: 57 elementary school children attending our partner school and reporting exposure to at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) and their parents.
Interventions: The Reaching Out to Kids with Emotional Trauma (ROcKET) intervention is a school-based multilevel intervention (individual child, family and school) that promotes positive health behaviours in children who have been exposed to ACEs.
Outcomes: Outcomes were gathered qualitatively via focus groups. The primary outcome was feasibility. The secondary outcomes were implementation outcomes according to the RE-AIM framework, including Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption and Implementation.
Results: Of 105 eligible children, 57 children and their parents participated (54%) with 31 (54%) girls, 47 (82%) Black/African American, 5 (9%) Hispanic and 5 (9%) white. The school staff implemented all planned ROcKET sessions with >90% fidelity in each session, and 52 (91%) of children who completed the final intervention session went on to complete 6 month follow-up assessments. The average attendance at the in-school child sessions was 57 students (87%), and 35 (61%) of parents attended at least one family session, with 25 (44%) of parents attending at least half of the family sessions. 13 (23%) parents participated in the focus groups. Qualitative data suggested high parent participant satisfaction, uptake of positive health behaviours targeted by the intervention and increased quality of life.
Conclusions: Our study suggests that the ROcKET intervention was feasible and acceptably delivered in a local elementary school with high reach to low-income and minority populations. These data suggest that schools, especially those serving low-income and minority children, can be an appropriate avenue for interventions designed to address health disparities. Data from this study will be used to advise a pilot study of the intervention.
Keywords: community child health; organisation of health services; organisational development; paediatrics; public health; qualitative research.
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