Patient Navigators for Children's Community Mental Health Services in High Poverty Urban Communities
University of Illinois at Chicago
Summary
The purpose is to study a model of mental health navigation for African American and Latinx children (0-14 years) in high poverty urban communities focused on reducing key parental attitudinal barriers to care. Reducing persistent racial and ethnic disparities in children's mental health is a national priority and patient navigation is a highly promising approach that is rarely used in children's mental health services. The study will examine the effectiveness of paraprofessional (PP) navigators who have strong community knowledge and waitlist as usual condition (active wailt list \[AWL\]. The study will examine specific mechanisms of navigator effectiveness in children's mental health and compare an AWL to provide a rigorous test of the proposed mechanisms. The knowledge gained from this application may be important to reducing disparities and employing the workforce best suited to navigation in the community mental health system. Two community boards, one focused on identifying factors important to supporting navigators at the agencies (Implementation and Sustainability Community Board) will meet quarterly, and the other focused on implications for state and federal policy (Public Policy Board), will meet annually.
Description
Navigation to promote entry into health services, originally developed to address racia disparities in cancer screening and treatment, is only recently gaining prominence in mental health. Recent reviews recommend navigation for many health-related services including mental health services for transition-age youth and for children with medical complexity and comorbid mental health disorders. Logistical barriers are common across the health care system. However, for mental health services, stigma is also a prominent barrier. Paraprofessionals (PPs) have been key in efforts to reduce disparities…
Eligibility
- Age range
- Up to 14 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria: * African American and Latinx Children between 0 and 14 years of age and their caregiver * New referrals on the waitlist for outpatient mental health services; families interested and engaged in social services from two state supported projects. * Have been screened and deemed appropriate for services at one of two social service participating community mental health agencies; or engaged in services via navigation projects Exclusion Criteria: * N/A
Interventions
- OtherNavigation
The intervention in this study is a model of navigation for families seeking services at the two mental health agencies collaborating on this study. Navigators will implement a model of navigation with caregivers focused on reducing logistical and attitudinal barriers to care.
Location
- University of Illinois at ChicagoChicago, Illinois