An Introduction to Program and Research Initiatives of the STARBRIGHT Foundation

Abstract Media and technology-based interventions offer promise for helping children with chronic illness cope with physiological and psychosocial challenges of illness. Research evaluating the efficacy of such interventions is critical to their acceptance and implementation in clinical practice. This article provides an overview of 2 interventions developed by the STARBRIGHT(r) Foundation: STARBRIGHT World(tm), a private online network connecting children in hospitals in the United States and Canada, and STARBRIGHT Hospital Pals(tm), a program designed to ease the anxiety of preschool children undergoing radiation therapy treatment. Behavioral models for program design, as well foundations for research to assess program impact, are presented.