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The Food Allergy Parent Mentoring Program: A Pilot Intervention
Ashley Ramos1,2, Frances Cooke1, Emily Miller1
1Division of Allergy and Immunology, Children's National Hospital.
Insights
Peer mentorship programs show promise in supporting parents of young children with newly diagnosed food allergy (FA). This intervention improved social support, reduced stress, and boosted confidence in FA management for parents.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Psychosocial Health
- Parental Support
Background:
- Newly diagnosed food allergy (FA) in young children poses significant psychosocial risks for parents.
- Current support systems for FA parents during the initial adjustment phase are lacking.
- Peer mentorship offers a novel approach to address these unmet needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a peer mentorship intervention for parents of young children with newly diagnosed FA.
- To assess the impact of mentorship on parental psychosocial functioning, including quality of life, self-efficacy, and social support.
- To gather feedback on the intervention from both mentors and mentees.
Main Methods:
- A single-arm pilot study involving trained parent mentors matched with mentees (parents of children under 5 diagnosed with FA within 1 year) for a 6-month period.
- Mentees completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires assessing demographic, medical, FA knowledge, quality of life, self-efficacy, and social support.
- Qualitative data were collected through focus groups with mentors and individual interviews with mentees.
Main Results:
- The peer mentorship intervention was highly acceptable to parents, with reported improvements in social support and reduced FA-related stress.
- Mentees demonstrated increased confidence in managing their child's food allergy and adopted more positive parenting behaviors.
- Participants included 8 mentors and 10 mentees, with mentees reporting significant positive changes.
Conclusions:
- Peer mentorship is a viable and effective strategy for supporting parents navigating the challenges of a new food allergy diagnosis in their young child.
- The intervention shows preliminary efficacy in enhancing psychosocial well-being and management confidence.
- Further research is warranted to scale this program for broader implementation in clinical settings.
Objective:
Parents of young children with newly diagnosed food allergy (FA) are at risk for poor psychosocial outcomes due to FA's life-threatening nature and demanding management routines. Presently, there are no interventions to support FA parents during this adjustment phase. This single-arm pilot study explores the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a novel intervention using peer mentorship to improve psychosocial functioning in parents of young children with newly diagnosed FA.
Methods:
Parent mentors were trained in mentorship and ethics and then matched with a mentee for a 6-month intervention period. Mentees, parents of children (under age 5 years) diagnosed with FA within 1 year, completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires to assess demographic and medical characteristics, FA knowledge, quality of life, self-efficacy, and social support and a program evaluation. Follow-up focus groups with mentors and individual interviews with mentees were conducted.
Results:
Participants were 8 mentors and 10 mentees (Mage = 36.60 years, 80% Caucasian) of children ages 0-3 years (Mage = 16.15 months; 60% male). Mentees reported high acceptability for the intervention in program evaluation and interviews, noting improvements in their social support, FA-related stress, confidence in FA management, and positive changes in FA parenting behaviors.
Conclusion:
This study supports the use of a peer mentorship program to support parents of children with newly diagnosed FA. Future research is needed to determine how to scale this intervention to meet the needs of a large medical division.
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