Empowered Relief for Caregivers (ER-CY): A Co-Designed Brief Intervention to Support Families of Youth With Chronic Pain
Stanford University
Summary
This study is testing a new program called Empowered Relief for Caregivers (ER-CY), designed to support caregivers of children and teens who live with chronic pain. ER-CY is a single two-hour class delivered online. It teaches skills for managing the stress of caring for a child in pain and for responding to a child's pain in helpful ways. Up to 80 caregivers of youth with chronic pain will take part in one ER-CY class and then complete surveys and a short interview over the following three months. The researchers want to learn two things: whether caregivers are willing and able to take part and find the program helpful and satisfying, and whether the program lowers caregiver distress and improves their child's day-to-day functioning. What is learned will help guide future programs and care for youth with chronic pain and their families.
Description
Background and Rationale: Chronic pain is common in youth and is associated with significant long-term physical and mental health consequences, yet it remains under-recognized and undertreated. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an effective treatment, but access barriers limit its reach, leaving a gap for scalable, accessible interventions. Empowered Relief (ER) is a single-session, skills-based intervention that has produced outcomes comparable to multi-session CBT in adults; a youth adaptation (ER-Y) has shown strong feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness. At the same time, caregi…