SPECIFiC

Salford Parents and carers Education Course for Improvements in Fasd outcomes In Children

Through our research and close partnership with families, we recognised that many parents and carers of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) struggle to access support that is specifically designed for FASD. Although many families are offered services based on trauma or attachment, there are very few evidence-based parenting programmes that address the unique neurodevelopmental challenges associated with FASD.

To address this gap, we developed SPECIFiC (Salford Parents’ and Carers’ Education Course for Improvements in FASD outcomes in Children). The programme was co-designed with parents and carers, clinicians, researchers and people with lived experience, ensuring that it reflects both the best available evidence and the realities of everyday family life.

SPECIFiC is a seven-session online psychoeducation programme that provides practical information about FASD alongside strategies that help parents and carers better understand their child’s needs and respond with confidence. The programme is delivered jointly by experienced professionals and parents with lived experience of caring for a child with FASD.

Funded by the Medical Research Council, the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the Oglesby Charitable Trust, SPECIFiC has now been evaluated in a randomised feasibility trial involving 119 parents and carers from across the UK. The study demonstrated that families were willing to take part and remain in the programme, with high levels of satisfaction and excellent retention. Most importantly, parents who received SPECIFiC reported significantly greater confidence in their parenting (parenting self-efficacy) compared with those receiving usual care.

These findings show that SPECIFiC is both feasible and acceptable to families and provides encouraging evidence that it can help parents and carers feel more confident in supporting their child. A larger definitive trial is now planned to determine whether the programme improves longer-term outcomes for families and represents good value for the NHS.

Our expert advisors

Professor Penny Cook
Joanna Buckard
Dr Jennifer Shields
Dr David Tate
Suzanne Bell
Anna Webster
Professor Raja Mukherjee
Sandra Butcher
Dr Larry Burd
Susan McGrail
Professor Clare Allely
Dr Cheryl McQuire
Dr Kathy Leadbitter
Professor Moira Plant

Training Sessions

Introduction session
Sensory processing
Self-regulation
Communication, Speech and language
Abstract and concrete reasoning
Routine, structure and consistency
Social relationships

The course is delivered online by two facilitators to groups of parents and caregivers. The facilitators bring a mix of professional and real-life experience of raising children with FASD.

The course delivery includes short presentations, recorded videos, generously created by experienced parents of children with FASD, and some featuring young adults with FASD. There are also group discussions and activities designed to support active learning.

We have recently completed a feasibility trial of SPECIFiC and will be reporting our results soon. The final stage of this project will be a full randomised controlled trial which we are currently planning.

View a v ideo by one of our expert steering group members on the SPECIFIC course.

Read an interview with a previous SPECIFiC participant.

If you like reading academic journal articles, you can read all about the development and preliminary testing of SPECIFiC.

For further information about SPECIFiC please contact our team at FASD21@salford.ac.uk