Community-Driven Strategies Enhance Family Engagement in ADHD Treatment

A recent pilot study highlights the effectiveness of a community-based intervention in increasing treatment engagement among families with children diagnosed with ADHD. This approach involves trained community health workers—nonclinical personnel with an in-depth understanding of local communities—delivering education and support to parents and caregivers. The intervention aims to address disparities in access to evidence-based ADHD treatments by tackling barriers such as stigma, misinformation, logistical challenges, and structural inequities. Participants attended an average of six hour-long sessions covering topics like ADHD education, dispelling myths, responding to discrimination, and empowering families to communicate effectively with healthcare providers and advocate for their children. Feedback from caregivers was overwhelmingly positive, with many reporting increased confidence in seeking treatment options like medication, behavioral therapy, and school accommodations. The study observed a significant rise in children receiving outpatient services, including a notable increase in medication and therapy use, as well as school-based supports. The initiative was guided by a Community Advisory Board comprising caregivers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, educators, and healthcare professionals, ensuring cultural relevance and community input. Lead researcher Dr. Andrea Spencer emphasized that this approach could help reduce racial and ethnic disparities in ADHD care, similar to successes seen in managing conditions like asthma. Given ADHD affects roughly 6-8% of children and can lead to lifelong challenges, effective treatment is crucial. The researchers plan to expand this work through a larger randomized clinical trial to further evaluate the intervention’s impact and scalability, with the goal of improving outcomes for underserved populations. The activities were conducted in collaboration with Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine.