3-C INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT INC — Department of Health and Human Services SBIR Phase II: 104

Description

Abstract There has been substantial progress in developing evidence based prevention programsEBPPsfor preventing risky behaviors and promoting positive mental health outcomes for youthUnfortunatelyEBPP adoptionquality implementationlong term sustainabilityand scalability in real world service settings continues to lag far behindjeopardizing the ability to achieve the intended broad scale public impactThis SBIR Phase II project will address a key implementation barrier to broad scale adoption and sustained use of EBPPs the need for ongoing tracking and documentation of howprocess dataand to what extentoutcomes dataan EBPP results in intended youth outcomes under real world conditionsBuilding on the existing collaboration betweenC Institute and Blueprints for Healthy Youth DevelopmentUniversity of Colorado BoulderInstitute of Behavioral Sciencewe will fully develop and pilot test Impactan easy to usecostand time efficient technology platform which gathers relevant process and outcomes data and produces meaningful real time data analytics and reportsat providerservice settingand state wide levelswith continuous quality improvementQCIfeedback for providersThe proposed project will accomplish three specific aimsFully develop the full software productwith all Impact functions customized for three Blueprints supported EBPPsusing an iterative user centered development testing revision process to ensure the software achieves optimal usability for intended end usersConduct a pilot field study with EBPP providers to assess Impact s feasibilityusabilityand value compared to standard data tracking methods as well as resulting improvements in provider perceptionsimplementation qualityand youth outcomesProviders will be randomly assigned to eitherause of Impact across the fullmonth trial period orbuse of Impact starting at the mid pointWe expect Impact will result in significant improvements in all areasPrepare Impact for commercialization by conducting focus groups with EBPP providers and administrators to review pilot test results and gather stakeholder feedback to finalize the complete productPreparation for Phase III commercial launch will include development of all needed demosresourcesand e training materials on how to use the softwareas well as integration of e commerce functionsImpact s modularcustomizable technology infrastructure will be able to accommodate a wide array of EBPPsproviding a much needed cost effective mechanism to support large scale dissemination and use in school and community mental health service settingsthereby increasing the likelihood a program s core features are adhered to over time and maximizing treatment benefits for youthIn additionagency and state administrators will be able to easily track implementation for enhanced accountability and effective monitoring of cost effectiveness and benefits Project Narrative Estimated national expenditures for treatment of youth mental health and substance abuse disorders inalone were $billionOver six million young people receive treatment for mentalemotionalor behavioral problems each yearhoweveronlyof youth between ageswho need mental health services receive those servicesWithout preventive effortsbehavioral health problems will have long term effects on lifecourse outcomes and public expenditures for housingeducationemploymentdisabilityincome supportcriminal justiceand other social welfare servicesAs much as $trillion could be saved each year simply by investing in prevention effortsWide scale implementation of evidence based prevention is critical to reining in the escalating costs of healthcareScaling proven prevention approaches can improve health and wellbeingreduce the economic burden of preventable diseaseand promote health equityThe proposed Impact software package will provide an easy to usecostand time efficient technology platform capable of supporting a wide array of EBPPs by feasibly gathering relevant process and outcomes dataproducing realtime analytics and meaningful reportsat providerservice settingand state wide levelsand linking data analytics to continuous quality improvementCQIfeedback for providers