Feasibility evaluation of the Reaching Out to Kids with Emotional Trauma (ROcKET) intervention in an elementary school: a single-arm, single-centre, feasibility study based on the RE-AIM framework

Abstract

Objective The study purpose was to describe feasibility of implementation of the Reaching Out to Kids with Emotional Trauma (ROcKET) intervention. We hypothesised that the ROcKET Intervention would be feasible in a poor resource school.Design We performed a single-arm, single-centr feasibility study of an intervention pilot, based on the RE-AIM framework.Setting The intervention was delivered in a single K-4th elementary charter school in the Nashville, TN area, in a low-resource community.Participants 57 elementary school children attending our partner school and reporting exposure to at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE) and their parents.Interventions The Reaching Out to Kids with Emotional Trauma (ROcKET) intervention is a school-based multilevel intervention (individual child, family and school) that promotes positive health behaviours in children who have been exposed to ACEs.Outcomes Outcomes were gathered qualitatively via focus groups. The primary outcome was feasibility. The secondary outcomes were implementation outcomes according to the RE-AIM framework, including Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption and Implementation.Results Of 105 eligible children, 57 children and their parents participated (54%) with 31 (54%) girls, 47 (82%) Black/African American, 5 (9%) Hispanic and 5 (9%) white. The school staff implemented all planned ROcKET sessions with >90% fidelity in each session, and 52 (91%) of children who completed the final intervention session went on to complete 6 month follow-up assessments. The average attendance at the in-school child sessions was 57 students (87%), and 35 (61%) of parents attended at least one family session, with 25 (44%) of parents attending at least half of the family sessions. 13 (23%) parents participated in the focus groups. Qualitative data suggested high parent participant satisfaction, uptake of positive health behaviours targeted by the intervention and increased quality of life.Conclusions Our study suggests that the ROcKET intervention was feasible and acceptably delivered in a local elementary school with high reach to low-income and minority populations. These data suggest that schools, especially those serving low-income and minority children, can be an appropriate avenue for interventions designed to address health disparities. Data from this study will be used to advise a pilot study of the intervention.