About – I-InTERACT-North

What Our Families Have to Say

We were struggling with his behaviour … and nothing seemed to work … since we took this program and the tools we were given; we see an improvement for sure.

Parent of a 3-year-old with a history of early brain injury (HIE)

It was extremely positive for us, it gave us things to reflect on, and it gave us a lot of tools to try.

Parent of a 5-year-old with a history of early brain injury (HIE)

The program was really well set up in terms of the balance between work at home through the modules and then the weekly or biweekly consultations. [Virtual coaching sessions] were really helpful (with) effective coaching and training tips and ways of being able to translate the paper knowledge into action.

Parent of a 5-year-old with a history of stroke

We found that the help with the parenting tips in general were amazing to have. We could apply it to all of our children. The program instantly resolved all of our problems. To be completely honest, it was amazing.

Parent of a 3-year-old with a history of congenital heart disease (CHD)

I-InTERACT-North is an online parenting skills training program that helps parents develop positive parenting skills to improve parenting competence and child behaviour.

In this program you will hear about how a child’s medical or neurodevelopmental condition can impact their emotional and behavioural development. You will learn skills to help improve your relationship with your child, decrease your own stress, and build your child’s behavioural and emotional resilience. These skills will help you and your family handle the challenges you face, whether or not they are related to your child’s condition. I-InTERACT-North families frequently comment on the ease of accessing the online intervention in their homes and describe what they learn as highly applicable to their daily lives.

The original program (I-InTERACT), was developed by Dr. Shari Wade and team at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The program helps parents build warm and consistent parenting strategies to improve family relationships. The original program was developed for children with traumatic brain injury (TBI). I-InTERACT-North is a Canadian adaptation (thus the North!) for families of children with behavioural difficulties associated with congenital and neonatal neurodevelopmental risk.

I-InTERACT Team

All of our therapists have graduate training in child psychology, extensive training and supervision in the I-InTERACT program and keen interest in supporting children and families with complex medical conditions and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Research Study

We are currently recruiting families for a research study being conducted at SickKids. In order to be eligible to participate in our research program you must:

Be a parent of a child between the ages of 3 to 9 years,
Have parent or clinician reported concerns regarding your child’s behaviour or emotional control
Have a child followed in the neonatal, neurology, psychology, psychiatry, or cardiology clinics at SickKids or part of the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Disorder Network (POND).

Sessions

Six online educational sessions (in a fixed order) with corresponding one-on-one videoconference coaching sessions with the same therapist coordinated around your family’s schedule.
One closing session to help plan for the future.
The program takes 7 to 14 weeks depending on your family’s schedule preference.