Children Affected by Rare Disease and Their Families Network

Children Affected by Rare Disease and Their Families Network

Families of children with rare diseases (i.e., not more than 5 out of 10.000 people are affected) are often highly burdened with fears, insecurities and concerns regarding the affected child and his/her siblings. The project at hand will test two innovative forms of care (CARE-FAM and WEP-CARE) at 17 sites in 12 federal states of Germany. The goal is to improve the mental health and quality of life of children affected by rare diseases and their relatives in a sustainable manner. If successful, these interventions will be introduced into regular care.

The central objective of the study at hand is to close the supply gap for families with children and adolescents affected by rare diseases. Two innovative forms of care (CARE-FAM and WEP-CARE) will be implemented and evaluated at the 18 participating study sites. Both interventions include psychological diagnostics, early detection and treatment of concomitant mental diseases. The study is a prospective, randomized controlled multicenter study (RCT) with a factorial design with four groups: CAREFAM (face to face), WEP-CARE (online), both interventions, control group (TAU = treatment as usual). Central psychosocial outcomes will be assessed at four time points (i.e., Baseline and after six, 12 and 18 months) from the perspectives of the parents, the affected child and the siblings (0 - 9 years only external assessment; from 10 years of age additional self-assessment) and the professionals.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Family with at least one child between 0 and 21 years with a rare disease or a suspected rare disease.
2. Consent to participate in the study.
3. Sufficient knowledge of the German language of parents and children.
4. Insured at the participating insurance companies.

Exclusion Criteria: Severe psychiatric disorders and impairments with acute symptoms such as suicidal tendencies, severe depression, addictions, acute psychotic symptoms etc., which will not be sufficiently supplied by this new low-frequency intervention. Children and parents with acute treatment demand in the control group will be placed at psychotherapists. Nevertheless, they stay in the control group.