Using a Community Based Participatory Research Approach to Examine Family Support

描述（由申请人提供）：该项目的长期目标是通过在家庭支助提供者和大学研究人员之间发展可持续的研究伙伴关系，改善家庭功能，减少心理健康服务和结果的差距。在社区机构和大学教师之间现有的合作伙伴关系的基础上，为患有严重情绪障碍的儿童及其家庭和儿童福利系统中的家庭建立了一个正在发展的护理系统（SOC），该项目将建立家庭支持项目收集和管理数据的能力，使研究能够记录家庭支持活动的影响。这项研究可以为实践提供信息，减少服务不足群体在获得和接受服务方面的差距，并有助于建立家庭支持的证据基础，特别是在由辅助专业人员提供支持的情况下。它有很大的潜力扩展到学校、宗教组织和非营利组织提供的一系列广泛的家庭支持项目。研究发现，家庭支持项目对儿童和家庭的影响不大（Layzer et al., 2001）。由于这些项目继续受到鼓励，作为由SAMHSA和儿童局支持的SOC倡议的组成部分，因此了解它们对儿童和家庭的影响至关重要。以社区为基础的参与性研究（CBPR）方法将用于研究家庭支持，地方组织将发展识别研究问题的能力，收集和管理有关服务提供和结果的可靠和有效的数据，一致地实施方案要素，分析和解释结果，并将通过研究获得的信息转化为行动。该项目建立在现有的大学与社区合作伙伴关系的基础上，以实现以下具体目标：加强地方基础设施，以支持家庭支助组织和家庭成员积极参与CBPR。这一伙伴关系将利用现有的当地资源，促进家庭支助审查。2. 检查家庭支持对儿童和家庭团队（CFT）会议过程以及儿童和家庭功能的影响。在精神健康和儿童福利的背景下，两项多方法试点研究将检查社区SOC倡议中家庭支持活动的影响，评估家庭指导和支持对实施CFT会议的影响，其中制定的计划，家庭接受的服务，以及家庭支持计划对儿童和家庭福祉的影响。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-range objectives of this project are to improve family functioning and reduce disparities in mental health services and outcomes through the development of a sustainable research partnership among family support providers and university researchers. Building upon existing partnerships among community agencies and university faculty in a developing System of Care (SOC) for children with severe emotional disturbance (SED) and their families and for families in the child welfare system, this project will build the capacity of family support programs to collect and manage data, enabling research to document the impact of family support activities. This research can inform practice and reduce disparities in access to and receipt of services among underserved groups, and help build an evidence base for family support, particularly when provided by paraprofessionals. It has strong potential for expanding to examine a wide array of family support programs offered by schools, faith-based organizations, and nonprofits. Family support programs have been found to have modest effects on children and families (Layzer et al., 2001). Since these programs continue to be encouraged as components of SOC initiatives supported through both SAMHSA and the Children's Bureau, knowledge of their impact on children and families is critically important. A community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach will be used to study family support, and local organizations will develop the capacity to identify research questions, collect and manage reliable and valid data about service provision and outcomes, implement program elements consistently, analyze and interpret results, and translate information gained via research into action. This project builds upon existing university-community partnerships to accomplish the following specific aims: 1. Strengthen local infrastructure to support family support organizations and family members' active involvement in CBPR. The partnership will build upon existing local resources to facilitate CBPR examining family support. 2. Examine the impact of family support on child and family team (CFT) meeting processes and child and family functioning. Within both mental health and child welfare contexts, two multi-method pilot studies will examine the impact of family support activities within a community SOC initiative, assessing the effects of family mentoring and support on the implementation of CFT meetings, the plans developed in them, the services received by families, and the impact of family support programming on child and family well-being. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Relevance to Public Health Although family support programs have become important components of Systems of Care, within both public mental health and child welfare systems, these programs, particularly when run by paraprofessionals, have been relatively understudied. It is important to identify the characteristics and components of family support programs that can best benefit families. This project will evaluate the impact of these programs to help build an evidence base that can inform and improve practice and, crucially, address disparities in mental health services and outcomes.