Evaluating a Virtual Stepped Care Portal in Youth Awaiting Tertiary Chronic Pain Care: An Implementation-Effectiveness Hybrid Type III Study (NCT05894772)
🩺 Plain-English Summary (8th-Grade Level)
Pain is one of the most common symptoms of extreme stress in youth. Without treatment, short-term pain can last for months to years (called 'chronic pain'; CP), a problem already affecting 1 in 5 Canadian youth. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the greatest threats to youth mental health seen in generations. CP in childhood can trigger a wave of mental health issues that last well into adulthood. In 2019, we learned that "access to pain care" is poor and a priority for youth with CP and their families. Unfortunately, COVID-19 has only made access more difficult. In 2020, we created an online "stepped care" program called the Power over Pain Portal for youth with CP. Stepped care is a promising way to improve access to CP care by tailoring care based on the symptoms each youth is experiencing. Like a ladder, youth start with one type of care and then "step up" or "step down" to more or less intense care depending on what they need. Over the past year, funded by CIHR, we worked with hundreds of youth and healthcare professionals across Canada to understand how the pandemic has affected pain and mental health. We also summarized all online pain self-management programs including peer support for youth to find the best resources to include in the Portal and will translate the portal content into French. Together with a diverse group of youth with CP, we have now co-designed the online Portal. The next step (focus of this grant) is to test the Portal with youth to ensure it can be implemented and is helpful. We will recruit 93 youth with CP waiting for specialist care at 11 CP clinics across Canada to use the Portal for 4 months. We will see how they use the Portal and if it helps to improve their pain and mental health. This study is important because it will allow us to understand how the Portal works in the real world before wide public release (English and French) to support all youth in Canada with CP with accessible, evidence-based pain care.
Who can join: Review the eligibility criteria below.
Location: IWK Health Center — Halifax, Nova Scotia
Age range: 12 Years to 18 Years
🧪 Interventions in This Study
- Power over Pain Portal (BEHAVIORAL)
📋 "Do I Qualify?" — 1-Minute Self Screener
Instant ChecklistFull eligibility criteria are available on the official NIH protocol. View the criteria ↗
📍 All Participating Trial Locations (11 Sites)
- IWK Health Center — Halifax, Nova Scotia
- McMaster Children's Hospital — Hamilton, Ontario
- Children's Hospital London Health Sciences — London, Ontario
- Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) — Ottawa, Ontario
- Hospital for Sick Children — Toronto, Ontario
- CHU Sainte-Justine — Montreal, Quebec
- Jim Pattison — Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
- Alberta Children's Hospital — Calgary,
- Stollery Children's Hospital — Edmonton,
- Montreal Children's Hospital — Montreal,
- BC Children's Hospital — Vancouver,
📞 Contact the Study Coordinator
Phone: (416) 813-7654
Email: jennifer.stinson@sickkids.ca
Coordinator details come directly from the registered NIH protocol. Confirm the study is still recruiting before traveling.
💰 Cost, Insurance & Patient Rights
- 100% Free Items: The investigational treatment and protocol-required procedures are supplied at zero cost by the sponsor.
- Routine Patient Care: Under federal law (ACA § 2709) and many state statutes, routine care costs are covered during participation.
- Voluntary Participation: You may withdraw at any time without affecting your standard medical care.
More studies in Chronic Pain
- Chronic Pain Management In Primary Care Using Behavioral Health Consultants — Bethesda, Maryland
- Virtual Reality Treatment for Adults With Chronic Back Pain (VRNT) — Boulder, Colorado
- The Effect of Light Therapy on Chronic Pain — Tucson, Arizona
- Jazz Music and Mindfulness for Chronic Pain — Irvine, California
- Improving Pain Management Via Spinal Cord Stimulation and Blood Pressure Reduction — Kansas City, Kansas
- Retrospective PNS Study — Denver, Colorado
Explore by condition: All Chronic Pain clinical trials
💡 How to Participate
- Check the checklist above to see if you may qualify.
- Contact the study coordinator using the phone/email above.
- Ask about the visit schedule, what is covered at no cost, and any travel support.
- Confirm with your own doctor before making a decision.