The Grief Navigation Trial: A Comparison of Two Interventions to Support Parents After Their Child's Unexpected or Traumatic Death

Part of paid clinical trials in Chicago, Illinois.

Sponsor
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Study ID
NCT06136260
Status
Recruiting
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Conditions

  • Bereavement

Eligibility Criteria

Sex
ALL
Age
18 Years - N/A
Healthy Volunteers
Accepted

Interventions

  • CommunityRx-Bereavement — OTHER
    The medical examiner or coroner will refer parents to an organization called Missing Pieces. Missing Pieces does not deliver healthcare services to grieving families; rather, Missing Pieces helps families find grief services in their community. For CRx-B, a Grief Navigator from Missing Pieces will text and/or call the parent after receiving the referral; share information about grief and support resources; learn what resources the parent needs for themselves and their family; send the parent a personalized list of grief and social support community resources called a HealtheRx via text, email, or mail; and plan future text message communications with bidirectional functionality and, if requested, subsequent calls or texts from the Grief Navigator to occur at least 3, 6, and 12 months after the child's death.
  • General Bereavement Support Information — OTHER
    The medical examiner or coroner will refer parents to an organization called Missing Pieces. Missing Pieces does not deliver healthcare services to grieving families; rather, Missing Pieces helps families find grief services in their community. For GBSI, Missing Pieces sends parents a unidirectional text message providing a link to a webpage with a general list of grief resources (e.g., support groups) and information about grief and bereavement within two weeks of the child's death and again 3, 6, and 12 months after the child's death.

Study Details

Parents of children who die traumatically or unexpectedly from things like suicide or an overdose suffer from mental and physical health problems and can experience massive disruptions in their family life. For about half of these parents, the first, and sometimes only, interactions they have with the healthcare system when their child dies are with a medical examiner or coroner (hereafter 'ME'). But MEs have little to no training in helping grieving families, and there are no standards guiding medical examiners or coroners on how or even if they should help grieving families. This gap leaves parents to find the help they need on their own. This research will test two different strategies for addressing this gap in the healthcare system.

Key Dates

Start date
Mar 4, 2024
Status verified
Apr 2025
Primary completion
Jul 31, 2027
Completion
Feb 29, 2028

Study Design

Enrollment
2,000 participants (estimated)
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Arms

  • Experimental: CommunityRx-Bereavement (CRx-B)
  • Active Comparator: General Bereavement Support Information (GBSI)

Primary Outcome Measure

Parent Self-efficacy for Finding Resources [ Time Frame: ~6.5 months after child's death ]

Central Contacts

Locations (7)

FacilityCityStateZIPSite coordinators
Cook County Medical Examiner's OfficeChicagoIllinois60612-
Will County Coroner's OfficeJolietIllinois60432-
Peoria County Coroner's OfficePeoriaIllinois61603-
Kane County Coroner's OfficeSaint CharlesIllinois60175-
Lake County Coroner's OfficeWaukeganIllinois60085-
DuPage County Coroner's OfficeWheatonIllinois60187-
McHenry County Coroner's OfficeWoodstockIllinois60098-

Find similar trials in Chicago, IL

By research site
Cook County Medical Examiner's Office· Chicago, ILWill County Coroner's Office· Joliet, ILPeoria County Coroner's Office· Peoria, ILKane County Coroner's Office· Saint Charles, ILLake County Coroner's Office· Waukegan, ILDuPage County Coroner's Office· Wheaton, IL

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