Teaching teens with sickle cell disease skills for managing their own care

This study tests a program called C-READY that teaches teenagers with sickle cell disease important skills for managing their own health care. The program is delivered one-on-one over video calls with a trained therapist over 4 weeks, with extra phone check-ins with a family member in between sessions. The goal is to help young people feel more confident and prepared to handle their own medications, pain management, sleep routines, and other health tasks as they become adults.

Many teenagers with sickle cell disease struggle with thinking and planning skills that make it hard to manage their own health care. This program is being tested because researchers believe teaching these skills early — and doing it through video from home instead of requiring clinic visits — could help more young people successfully take care of themselves when they grow up.