Anxiety in Children and Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perceptions of Implementing the Facing Your Fears Program in Hospital and Community Organizations
Date
2019-04-16
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Abstract
The Facing Your Fears (FYF) program is a family-centred intervention designed to teach children and youth with ASD strategies to reduce co-occurring symptoms of anxiety. The present study explored the process of implementing the FYF program through the perceptions of facilitators and managers in either a hospital setting or community organization, in addition to determining the treatment outcomes for participants who completed FYF. Sixteen facilitators and managers were interviewed regarding their perceptions of the compatibility, complexity, relative advantages, barriers, challenges, and adaptations that arose during implementation. Overall, facilitators and managers from both organizations reported that FYF had good compatibility with their organization, implementation of FYF was not too complex, and members of each organization reported advantages that were related to their setting. Facilitators and managers reported barriers and challenges that were organized into four theme-categories: system-level, intervention delivery, logistics, and individual and family. Adaptation themes directly reflected the barriers and challenges that each organization encountered when implementing FYF, as modifications were needed to be made to the intervention as well as the organization structure to overcome the difficulties of implementing an evidence-based intervention into clinical practice. Despite these modifications, both parent and child reported symptoms of anxiety, in addition to social responsiveness changed post intervention. Factors that may have impacted changes in anxiety symptoms, such as increased understanding or awareness of anxiety, are discussed in more detail. These findings provide foundational knowledge to the understanding of the strengths and challenges of implementing FYF in clinical practice across different settings. Additionally, knowledge gained from the current project may be beneficial and useful for future facilitators and managers to consider when preparing to implement and implementing FYF within their organization.
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Keywords
Implementation research, Autism spectrum disorder, Anxiety, Facing Your Fears, Intervention
Citation
Berlanda, L. (2019). Anxiety in Children and Youth With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Perceptions of Implementing the Facing Your Fears Program in Hospital and Community Organizations (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.