Exploring therapeutic alliance with an internet-based self-management program with brief telephone support for youth with arthritis: a pilot study.

Findings from a pilot study are presented exploring therapeutic alliance between adolescent juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients and a trained nonprofessional health coach during the feasibility testing of a 12-week self-management program delivered online with brief telephone support. Therapeutic alliance was measured using the Working Alliance Inventory Client Scale (WAI-C), and qualitative information about the experience was gathered using the Distance Experience Questionnaire. WAI-C scores were found to be comparable to previously published pediatric face-to-face data and pediatric distance treatment data. Therapeutic alliance scores were also found to be correlated with improved treatment outcomes (decreased reported pain).