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Real-world evaluations: The case of a respite program

Real-world evaluations: The case of a respite program. Dr. John D. McLennan, University of Calgary Dr. Liana Urichuk, Capital Health & University of Alberta. The Many Faces of Childhood Well-Being: The Early Years (Two to Six) Nov 30, 2007 Edmonton. ACCFCR-funded study.

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Real-world evaluations: The case of a respite program

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  1. Real-world evaluations: The case of a respite program Dr. John D. McLennan, University of Calgary Dr. Liana Urichuk, Capital Health & University of Alberta The Many Faces of Childhood Well-Being: The Early Years (Two to Six) Nov 30, 2007 Edmonton

  2. ACCFCR-funded study • Title: The impact of therapeutic respite care on young children with special needs and their caregivers • Partners: • Kids Kottage (Lori Reiter) • Elves Special Needs Society

  3. Acknowledgements • ACCFCR • McDaniel Foundation • Minerva Foundation • Personnel funding (McLennan) • AHFMR • CIHR • Research Staff & Students • Kristen Welker, CASA • Maddalena Genovese, CASA • Jenna Doig, University of Toronto • Susan Huculak, University of Calgary

  4. Respite • What is respite? • A group of support services designed to provide “the feeling of a break” from the habitual demands of caring for a dependent who has a disability (Neufeld et al., 2001, Cohen 1982, Warren & Cohen, 1985) • Why would you need to evaluate it?

  5. Real-world evaluation • Determine if our intervention efforts are effective • Potential impact of intervention efforts: • (i) More harm than good • (ii) Ineffective • No effect • Opportunity cost • (iii) Effective • Can’t make assumptions from efficacious studies • Priorities for expansion/dissemination

  6. The Intervention • Centre-based respite • 6 hours/week • “School-year” • “therapeutic” • E.g., Social skills building

  7. Study design • Pre-post design quantitative study • Baseline information • Mid-point (5 months) • End-point (10 months) • Follow-up (18 months) • Quasi-experimental design component • Respite seeking comparison group • Qualitative inquiry component

  8. Baseline characteristics of participating children • The children • n=63/82 (77%) • 2/3rd boys • 1/3rd Caucasians, 2/3rd Minorities • 2-1/2 to 9 years of age (mean: 5 years) • 1/3rd “confirmed FASD” • Strengths & Difficulty Questionnaire • 89% rated their child’s difficulties in the high (“abnormal”) range • 92% indicate these difficulties have a substantial impact on the child’s life and environment

  9. Baseline characteristics of participating caregivers • Caregivers (n=50) • 76% mothers (39% biological) • 24% fathers (33% biological) • Parent Stress Index (SF) • 2/3rds scored in the high range on total stress measure

  10. Anticipated outcomes • Fall 2008 – preliminary outcome data • Understanding of the impact of this type of respite program • A preliminary understanding • Possible benchmark • Clues to what direction to take to improve the respite intervention • Contribute to a continuous quality improvement loop

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