Mental Health Care Coordination for Transition Aged Youth

February 22, 2021 updated by: Lisa Tuchman, Children's National Research Institute

Mental Health Care Coordination for Transition Aged Youth With Serious Emotional Disturbance/Serious Mental Illness

This study seeks to quantify the impact of recommended mental health care coordination practices on patient experiences of care, (i.e. satisfaction, stigma, quality of mental health care), evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the intervention (i.e. care coordination, timing, unmet needs), and assess mental health outcomes (i.e. symptoms and functioning, involvement with law enforcement/juvenile justice system; rates of substance use /abuse, service utilization) in a population of 16-22 year-old youth receiving primary care in a D.C. urban academic adolescent medicine practice, using standardized outcome measures.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In the maternal and child health field, there is increasing awareness of modifiable health conditions that appear early in the life course and impact development and wellness throughout the life span. Special opportunities exist in vulnerable populations with serious mental health conditions to better understand what life course events can facilitate attainment of optimal health and development. One such opportunity is making sure youth with serious emotional disturbance/serious mental illness receive the mental health services they need.

Unfortunately, untreated mental illness among adolescents and young adults is a major public health problem. Particularly concerning is the fact that 80% of youth with serious emotional disturbance/serious mental illness are not receiving needed mental health services and unmet mental health needs are even higher among certain populations, including minority youth. Youth with untreated mental health problems face a number of challenges that are exacerbated when left untreated. For example, youth with serious mental illness tend to have more difficulties in school and more involvement with the criminal justice system than their peers. These youth also face more challenges successfully transitioning to adulthood and becoming productive members of society.

Untreated mental illness tends to lead to more intensive and costly treatment down the road. There are many barriers to accessing mental health services, including stigma and difficulty navigating a complex mental health system, which contribute to unmet mental health needs. Additionally, youth may be so significantly impaired that expecting them to access mental treatment without some supportive services is unrealistic.

In light of these facts, it becomes urgent to implement recommended standards for mental health integration and evaluate their impact on mental health outcomes. The Center for Integrated Health Solutions in a joint Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) effort recently released expanded joint principles for behavioral health integration. In this model, coordinated care is defined by primary and behavioral health care provided at different locations in the medical neighborhood, but care is coordinated through enhanced communication across the two disciplines. This report makes available an important standard for establishing integrated mental health care coordination practices within a primary care setting, but also demands careful evaluation.

This study seeks to quantify the impact of recommended mental health care coordination practices on patient experiences of care, (i.e. satisfaction, stigma, quality of mental health care), evaluate the efficiency/effectiveness of the intervention (i.e. care coordination, timing, unmet needs), and assess mental health outcomes (i.e. symptoms and functioning, involvement with law enforcement/juvenile justice system; rates of substance use /abuse, service utilization) in a population of 16-22 year-old youth receiving primary care in a D.C. urban academic adolescent medicine practice, using standardized outcome measures.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

220

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

16 years to 22 years (Child, Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • has a diagnosis of serious emotional disturbance/serious mental illness
  • has not received outpatient mental health services in the past 30 days

Exclusion Criteria:

  • does not have a diagnosis of serious emotional disturbance/serious mental illness
  • has received outpatient mental health services in the past 30 days

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention
Enhanced usual care with written mental health resources and system navigation information in addition to individualized mental health care coordination by a dedicated specially trained mental health care coordinator.
Enhanced usual care with written mental health resources and system navigation information in addition to individualized mental health care coordination by a dedicated specially trained mental health care coordinator.
No Intervention: Control
Enhanced usual care with written mental health resources and system navigation information.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Connection to mental healthcare
Time Frame: 2 years
Number of study participants self-reported receiving mental health care services since enrollment
2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Patient Experiences
Time Frame: 2 years
Experience of Care and Health Outcomes (ECHO) Survey
2 years
Depression symptoms
Time Frame: 2 years
PHQ-9 Questionnaire
2 years
Mental Health Stigma
Time Frame: 2 years
Internalized Stigma of Mental Illness (ISMI) Questionnaire
2 years
Patterns of substance use
Time Frame: 2 years
Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) Questionnaire
2 years
Adverse Childhood Events
Time Frame: 2 years
Philadelphia ACE Survey
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Collaborators

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Lisa K Tuchman, MD, MPH, Children's National Research Institute

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 31, 2019

Study Completion (Actual)

October 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

October 23, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 6, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

November 8, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 23, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 22, 2021

Last Verified

February 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro7512
  • R40MC29453 (Other Grant/Funding Number: HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau)

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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