This prospective mixed-method interview study aims to qualitatively describe the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases among patients and parents of children with a rare disease targeted for treatment using gene therapy techniques. Using learned insights, the team will develop an online platform providing educational content and patient decision aids for patients and their families.
The study team seeks to understand the unique needs of patients and parents of children who are considering novel experimental gene therapy treatments. The study team will engage patients, caregivers, and healthcare worker stakeholders to understand their attitudes, beliefs, and concerns surrounding these treatments. Based on these insights, the team, with the support of the above stakeholders and an external vendor, will develop web platform offering educational content and decision aids to enhance their experience and overall satisfaction with the process of making treatment decisions. This is especially important as novel therapies for SCD will increasingly include gene editing in pediatric trials over the next two years. These efforts will address significant gaps in the educational material available to those considering gene therapy and (to the team's knowledge) will create a resource that will be the first of its kind.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
145
The following groups of stakeholders will be interviewed to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases: (1) patients and families of children with rare genetic diseases who have received gene therapy (to assess their perspectives and understand their informational needs around participating in a clinical trial using gene therapy).
The following groups of stakeholders will be interviewed to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases: (2) patients and families of children with rare genetic diseases who were offered but have decided against receiving gene therapy or who were never offered gene therapy or ultimately did not qualify for a trial (to elicit feedback and to evaluate whether their informational needs and communication expectations about participating in a clinical trial using gene therapy were met).
The following groups of stakeholders will be interviewed to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases: (3) healthcare workers who provide care to patients receiving gene therapy (to assess their perspective regarding patient/family needs for gene therapy education and communication).
The following group of stakeholders will be interviewed to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases: (4) parents/caregivers of children with a bone marrow failure condition, who has undergone gene therapy, OR parent/caregiver of a child who died after receiving gene therapy at least 6 months prior to enrollment, but no more than 24 months prior to enrollment OR patients age 8 and above who have undergone gene therapy (to assess their perspectives and understand their informational needs around participating in a clinical trial using gene therapy).
The following groups of stakeholders will be interviewed to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases: (5) parent/caregiver of children (or patients 8 and above) with bone marrow failure conditions who were offered but have decided against receiving gene therapy or who were ultimately not eligible for a clinical trial (to elicit feedback and to evaluate whether their informational needs and communication expectations about participating in a clinical trial using gene therapy were met).
The following groups of stakeholders will be interviewed to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases: (6) parent/caregiver of children (or patients 8 and above) with a bone marrow failure condition who were never offered gene therapy (to elicit feedback and to evaluate whether their informational needs and communication expectations about participating in a clinical trial using gene therapy)
The following groups of stakeholders will be interviewed to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases: (7) health care workers who provide care to patients receiving gene therapy for bone marrow failure conditions (to assess their perspective regarding patient/family needs for gene therapy education and communication).
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
RECRUITINGUse of semi-structured interviews to assess the beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy among patients and families with rare genetic diseases.
Trained experts will interview study participants to elucidate their beliefs, attitudes, and informational needs around gene therapy for rare pediatric diseases among the disease stakeholders. These interviews will be analyzed via the well-described rigorous methodology of semantic content analysis to identify themes through a systematic and standardized process.
Time frame: 2 years
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