Avatar Contraception Communication Training

NCT05995574 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: Pending funding
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 166
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

In order to support the desire of most adolescents to delay pregnancy (parenting) until their own adulthood, pediatricians must be comfortable and skilled in having reproductive health conversations with adolescents and the mothers of adolescents. Advocates for Youth (AFY), a national, youth-facing, well-established, non-profit, is known for innovative sexual and reproductive health programs. AFY successfully implemented a virtual simulation for schoolteachers to practice sex education scenarios by interacting with culturally diverse student avatars. We will partner with AFY to adapt their novel simulation-based approach to train medical residents in using SDM with youth and parent avatars. Our long-term goal is to build clinician confidence in SDM and actual skills via simulation training with dyadic avatars. We will also explore how evaluation of clinician communication skills varies from youth-, parent-, and clinician-viewpoints.

Conditions

Communication

Keywords

Adolescent; Contraception; Training

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Questionnaire

  Multiple questions will be aggregated to arrive at one reported value to determine "improvement or stability in confidence" in shared decision-making communication.

  Change from baseline (T0) at 0 hours, and end of training (T2) at 2 hours

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Acceptability Questionnaire

  At end of study (T2) at 2-hours

• Questionnaire

  Change from start (T1) at 20 minute to end of training (T2) at 2 hours

• Questionnaire

  Change from start (T1) at 20 minute to end of training (T2) at 2 hours

Study Arms (1)

Avatar training

EXPERIMENTAL

One hundred physician learners will train with the avatar communication training tool as a behavioral intervention. Before the training (T0), the learners will complete a pre-survey to assess their baseline confidence. At the start of training, after a brief introduction and orientation to the tool, the learners will complete a 10-min uninterrupted scenario with a teen-parent avatar dyad about a contraception scenario. After the initial scenario (T1), the learner will pause and complete an assessment to evaluate use of SDM (Shared decision making) skills and PCCC (person-centered contraceptive counseling). Then, the learner will train for an hour with the tool. At the end (T2), the learner will complete another uninterrupted scenario and evaluate their confidence, SDM, and PCCC skills.

Behavioral: avatar communication training

Interventions

avatar communication training BEHAVIORAL

Avatar simulates a mother and a daughter for the pediatrician to practice communication about contraception.

Avatar training

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Providers (medical residents, fellows, attendings)
• Recruited from the Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Medicine Clinic at Children\'s Medical Center of Dallas.

You may not qualify if:

• Unable to speak or read in Spanish/English

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center: lead

Study Sites (2)

Childrens Health Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (AYA) Clinic

Dallas, Texas, 75207, United States

Location

UT Southwestern Medical Center

Dallas, Texas, 75390-0966, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Communication

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Jenny KR Francis, MD

  UTSouthwestern

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Jenny KR Francis, MD, MPH

CONTACT

214-456-6792; Jenny.Francis@utsouthwestern.edu

Jenny KR Francis, MD, MPH

CONTACT

214-456-6792; jkrfrancis@gmail.com

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Model Details: single intervention arm with pre- and post- evaluation.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 16, 2023
• First Posted: August 16, 2023
• Study Start: April 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2030
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2030
• Last Updated: September 3, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: 12mo after collection and available per Institutional Review Board standards
• Access Criteria: All deidentified study data that are not designated as restricted use will be made available as public use data to the research community via DSDR.

Locations

US (2)