Familias Unidas - eHealth

Mental Health Substance Use Prevention or Treatment In-home Parent Skill-Based Does Not Currently Meet Criteria

Familias Unidas – eHealth is a family-centered online intervention that aims to prevent substance use and risky sexual behavior among Hispanic adolescents. Familias Unidas – eHealth aims to empower parents by teaching parents about protective and risk factors, improving parenting skills, enhancing parent-adolescent communication, and facilitating parental involvement and investment in adolescents’ lives.

 

Familias Unidas – eHealth consists of five key intervention components: (1) Parents participate in online group video sessions. Each session consists of three components—simulated parent group discussions, a culturally responsive telenovela series, and interactive exercises. (2) Facilitators conduct family sessions, which can be conducted as in-person visits or using online video conferencing software. During these sessions, facilitators restructure negative interactions within the adolescent’s family, peer, and school networks, and parents apply skills learned during the group sessions. (3) Parents participate in individual and group parent-school personnel meetings aimed at establishing or strengthening positive parent-school connections. (4) Adolescents engage in family supervised activities with their peers that allow parents to become more informed and involved in the adolescent’s peer world. (5) Parents complete family homework assignments to practice parenting skills.


Familias Unidas - eHealth does not currently meet criteria to receive a rating because no studies of the program achieved a rating of moderate or high on design and execution.


Date Research Evidence Last Reviewed: Oct 2021


Sources

The program or service description, target population, and program or service delivery and implementation information was informed by the following sources: the program or service manual, the program or service developer’s website, the California Evidence Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare, the Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development registry, and the studies reviewed.


This information does not necessarily represent the views of the program or service developers. For more information on how this program or service was reviewed, visit the download the Handbook of Standards and Procedures, Version 1.0

Target Population

Familias Unidas – eHealth is designed for Hispanic adolescents ages 12 to 16 and their families.

Dosage

Familias Unidas – eHealth is typically delivered over the course of 12 weeks. The intervention consists of eight pre-recorded online group video sessions and four virtual family sessions, with one session per week. Each pre-recorded online group video session lasts 30 minutes, and each individual virtual family session lasts 45 to 60 minutes.

Location/Delivery Setting
Recommended Locations/Delivery Settings

Familias Unidas – eHealth is delivered online.

Education, Certifications and Training

It is recommended that facilitators have at least a bachelor’s degree and can speak Spanish. Facilitators must complete a 32-hour training (four 8-hour days) to become certified. The training teaches facilitators about the Familias Unidas theoretical framework and explains the goals, outcomes, intervention strategies, materials needed, and technical components of the intervention (e.g., tracking virtual attendance using the intervention website, use of online conferencing software).  

Certified facilitators can receive additional training to become a Familias Unidas Trainer after they have delivered the intervention at least six times. Trainers must complete a 32-hour Training-of-Facilitators (TOF) training (four 8-hour days) and be observed by a master trainer when completing their first training with their agency.

Program or Service Documentation
Book/Manual/Available documentation used for review

The eHealth Familias Unidas Facilitator’s Manual is implemented in conjunction with the eHealth Familias Unidas online software.

Pantin, H. M., Prado, G., Tapia, M. I., & Estrada, Y. (2016). eHealth Familias Unidas program: Facilitator’s manual. University of Miami.

Estrada, Y., Pantin, H. M., Prado, G., Tapia, M. I., & Velazquez, M. R. eHealth Familias Unidas [Online software]. University of Miami. 

Available languages

Materials for Familias Unidas – eHealth are available in English and Spanish.


Note: The details on Dosage; Location; Education, Certifications, and Training; Other Supporting Materials; and For More Information sections above are provided to website users for informational purposes only. This information is not exhaustive and may be subject to change.

Results of Search and Review Number of Studies Identified and Reviewed for Familias Unidas - eHealth
Identified in Search 3
Eligible for Review 1
Rated High 0
Rated Moderate 0
Rated Low 1
Reviewed Only for Risk of Harm 0

Sometimes study results are reported in more than one document, or a single document reports results from multiple studies. Studies are identified below by their Prevention Services Clearinghouse study identification numbers. To receive a rating of supported or well-supported, the favorable evidence for a program or service must have been obtained from research conducted in a usual care or practice setting.


Studies Rated Low

Study 11794

Estrada, Y., Lee, T. K., Wagstaff, R., Rojas, L. M., Tapia, M. I., Velazquez, M. R., Sardinas, K., Pantin, H., Sutton, M. Y., & Prado, G. (2019). eHealth Familias Unidas: Efficacy trial of an evidence-based intervention adapted for use on the internet with Hispanic families. Prevention Science, 20(1), 68-77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-018-0905-6

Perrino, T., Estrada, Y., Huang, S., St George, S., Pantin, H., Cano, M. A., Lee, T. K., & Prado, G. (2018). Predictors of participation in an eHealth, family-based preventive intervention for Hispanic youth. Prevention Science, 19(5), 630-641. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-016-0711-y

This study received a low rating because baseline equivalence of the intervention and comparison groups was necessary and not demonstrated.


Studies Not Eligible for Review

Study 11795

Estrada, Y., Molleda, L., Murray, A., Drumhiller, K., Tapia, M., Sardinas, K., Rosen, A., Pantin, H., Perrino, T., Sutton, M., Cano, M. Á., Dorcius, D., Wendorf Muhamad, J., & Prado, G. (2017). eHealth Familias Unidas: Pilot study of an internet adaptation of an evidence-based family intervention to reduce drug use and sexual risk behaviors among Hispanic adolescents. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph14030264

This study is ineligible for review because it does not use an eligible study design (Study Eligibility Criterion 4.1.4).

Study 11806

Prado, G., Estrada, Y., Rojas, L. M., Bahamon, M., Pantin, H., Nagarsheth, M., Gwynn, L., Ofir, A. Y., Forster, L. Q., Torres, N., & Brown, C. H. (2019). Rationale and design for eHealth Familias Unidas primary care: A drug use, sexual risk behavior, and STI preventive intervention for Hispanic youth in pediatric primary care clinics. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 76, 64-71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2018.11.005

This study is ineligible for review because it does not use an eligible study design (Study Eligibility Criterion 4.1.4).