System of Care Secondary Data Analysis

System of Care Secondary Data Analysis: The Influence of Cultural Competency & Satisfaction with Participation in Planning on Child and Caregiver Outcomes.

Contact:

Adjoa Robinson, PhD robinsona@pdx.edu    503-725-4162

The proposed study is a secondary analysis of data collected from the national evaluation of the US Dept of Health and Human Services Center for Mental Health Services System of Care program. Local communities are funded to develop a System of Care (SOC) to meet the needs of children with serious emotional disturbance and their families.

(Click here for map of funded communities through 1994; http://www.tapartnership.org/announcements/2004GrantCommunityMap.pdf ).
Every few years, the evaluation protocol changes as instruments are reconsidered. Therefore, this study will focus on an estimated 20,000 Phase II & III national System of Care evaluation participants. Phase II includes sites funded in 1997 and 1998 and Phase III includes sites funded in 1999 and 2000.

The purpose of the secondary data analysis is to examine caregiver experience of involvement in service planning and perceptions of provider cultural competence as they relate to child and caregiver functional outcomes. The caregiver self-report data were collected through in-person interviews at intake and then every six months for up to three years. (Click here for Data Elements.)

Specifically, we are interested in the following questions:

Question 1: How do caregivers rate their experience of involvement in planning services for children with serious emotional disturbances?

Question 2: What is the relationship between caregiver involvement ratings and child and family outcomes?

Question 3: What is the relationship between perceived cultural competence and child outcomes and family outcomes?

Question 4: How do caregivers perceive the cultural competence of service providers?

This study builds on the previous research that examined the effects different measures caregiver involvement in planning on child and caregiver functional outcomes using data from one SOC site (Robinson, 2005). In that study no direct effects of caregiver involvement on child outcomes were found. However, caregivers who reported more satisfaction with involvement perceived their child as having more emotional and behavioral strengths and fewer internalizing and externalizing problems.

In order to understand the complex relationships and the inherent challenges of longitudinal data multivariate analyses will be conducted using generalized estimating equations (GEE) with covariates used for statistical control in order to isolate any effects of experience of involvement and cultural competency on outcomes .

At the conclusion of this project, results will be posted at this website.