Youths' Access to Mental Health Services: A Career Award
Principal Investigator: Arlene Stiffman, Ph.D.
Funder: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (1 NIMH K02 MH01797-A1, Independent Scientist Award)Timeframe: Funded: 08/00-07/05
Affiliation: Center for Mental Health Services Research (CMHSR)
Project Contact: Arlene Stiffman, PhD, (314) 935-6685
arstiff@wustl.eduProject Update as of 01/25/2008:
Description:
Knowledge of youths’ access to mental health services is an underdeveloped, but nationally important, issue that impacts the way youths’ services are funded and provided. This research addressed youths’ entry into and pathways through mental health services provided by both specialty and nonspeciality sectors (mental health, public health, child welfare, juvenile justice, education and drug and alcohol). Services research had neglected the role of social workers and nonspeciality mental health professionals in the provision of mental health services. A K02 Award allowed Dr. Stiffman the time to build upon her previous work, adding breadth to its significant contributions in this area. The research tested hypotheses with data from ongoing studies and addressed knowledge needed to provide better access to mental health services in multiple service sectors.
The hypotheses related to service access; the role of the gateway provider, and Medicaid/managed care:
1. Youths’ use of services for their mental health problems is determined by:
a. Their need, their predisposing characteristics and service enabling characteristics
2. Youths’ access to services for their mental health problems is determined by:
a. Their need as perceived by gateway providers; and
b. Those gateway providers’ resources, service connections, and service knowledge
3. The use of specialty mental health services is positively associated with the availability and accessibility of Medicaid and managed care reimbursed services.
During the K02, exploratory analyses helped frame hypotheses for new studies:
1) What are the multisector configurations of services and their complementary or supplementary relationships?
2) What is the relationship of problem persistence to service configuration change over time? And;
3) What is the relationship of barriers (which will change over time) to changes in service configurations?