Recipients
Kristi Wright
A number of interventions, such as the preoperative preparation approach, have been found to reduce anxiety in children prior to surgery. Unfortunately they have not been well integrated into clinical practice, perhaps due to their high costs and low feasibility. As a result, children continue to experience anxiety and other associated problems before and after surgery. Dr. Kristi Wright is exploring the possibility of delivering a preoperative preparation program over the Internet.
Dr. Wright is developing an interactive, Internet delivered preoperative preparation program for parents and their children. The program is comprised of five short modules focused on education about anesthesia and the day-surgery experience, learning skills to aid in improving the experience, and opportunities to practice the learned skills. A pilot study of the program will be conducted with approximately 94 children, aged four to seven years, who are scheduled for day-surgery procedures at the Royal University Hospital. Parents will complete a number of measures – such as parental anesthetic knowledge and anxiety, as well as child temperament – prior to and after surgery. During the day-surgery process, child anxiety will be assessed five times.
Dr. Wright believes her innovative approach to surgery preparation will aid in reducing child anxiety during the day-surgery experience. She also thinks the interactive, Internet delivered preoperative preparation program has a high potential for widespread use in Saskatchewan hospitals.
