Research

The research behind Take Charge!

Take Charge! brings together research evidence, lived experience and clinical expertise. We aim to describe the evidence accurately without overstating effectiveness.

Why fatigue?

Fatigue can affect participation, school, family life and quality of life. It is also difficult to see, describe and manage, particularly when support is fragmented across settings.

Why a transdiagnostic approach?

Research in children with chronic disease shows that fatigue is multidimensional and associated with biological/lifestyle, psychological and social factors that can cut across diagnoses. Take Charge! therefore focuses on shared fatigue experiences while leaving room for diagnosis-specific adaptation.

Nap-van der Vlist MM et al. Fatigue among children with a chronic disease. BMJ Paediatrics Open. 2021;5:e000958.

How Take Charge! is being developed

EvidenceReview what is known.
Lived experienceInterview young people and families.
Co-designShape priorities and content.
PrototypeBuild the digital experience.
User testRefine accessibility and usability.
EvaluateStudy usefulness and implementation.
Current program

Take Charge! research

Final wording will match approved study status and publications.

Development

Transdiagnostic fatigue intervention

Co-design, prototype development and iterative user testing with young people, families and clinicians.

Adaptation

Childhood stroke

Optimising Take Charge! for children and adolescents with stroke and evaluating usability, acceptability and perceived usefulness.

Implementation

Everyday settings

Learning how Take Charge! can be used across rehabilitation, home, school and healthcare contexts.

Publications and presentations

Research you can read

Each publication includes the full citation, a plain-language summary and a link to the paper.

Publication

The assessment and management of fatigue following paediatric acquired brain injury: rehabilitation clinicians’ perspectives

Mazzone O, Conroy R, Jenkin T, Scheinberg A, Knight S. Neuropsychological Rehabilitation. 2025;35(5):930–959. Published online 30 July 2024.

Plain-language summary

Eleven Australian rehabilitation clinicians described how they recognise, assess and manage fatigue after paediatric acquired brain injury. They emphasised that fatigue needs to be understood in the context of each individual child, and that useful management depends on children, families, schools and rehabilitation teams developing a shared understanding and adjusting strategies together over time.

Read the full publication →