Acceptability and Feasibility of an Educational Intervention to Improve Researcher-Participant Interactions in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Clinical Trial: Research Team Feedback on the BRIEF Intervention.
Stephanie A Kraft, Devan M Duenas, Andrea Kelsh et al.
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In 30 seconds
This single-site pilot study evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of Better Research Interactions for Every Family (BRIEF), a multipart educational intervention for improving research-team conversations with families about clinical trial enrollment in a neonatal intensive care unit. All nine research team members completed the online module, group training, surveys, self-assessments, and interviews. Team members reported greater satisfaction with BRIEF than with previous recruitment training. After training, self-assessments showed significant increases in reported partnership with bedside nursing (p = 0.02) and confirmation of family names (p = 0.05). Interviews also identified a need for more support with challenging conversations.
Key findings
- All nine research team members completed every component of the BRIEF intervention.
- Self-assessed partnership with bedside nursing increased after training (p = 0.02).
- Self-assessed confirmation of family names increased after training (p = 0.05).
- Team members reported high satisfaction with BRIEF, while identifying support for challenging conversations as an area for improvement.
Why it matters
Recruitment conversations can shape families’ understanding and decisions about research participation. This pilot suggests that structured communication training can be implemented and is acceptable to a neonatal research team, while also highlighting that training may need to address difficult conversations. The findings offer preliminary evidence about implementation and perceived skill changes, rather than demonstrating effects on family decision-making or enrollment.
What to keep in mind
This was a single-site pilot involving nine research team members. Skill changes were based on self-assessments, and the abstract does not report outcomes for families or trial enrollment.