Abstract
Although best practice for children's mental health services emphasizes ongoing assessment and monitoring of clinical progress, community based clinicians inconsistently implement assessment as part of clinical care due to a variety of practical barriers. The current study explores which factors may be related to the use and function of evidence-based assessment (EBA) in real-world, clinical settings, particularly school mental health (SMH). Mixed methodologies surveying a national sample of SMH clinicians and interviewing clinicians and program managers were used to explore current assessment practices, including use of specific tools and barriers, facilitators and attitudes toward EBA. Results indicate that clinician level of experience is negatively related to overall attitudes toward EBA, particularly openness. The most commonly-reported barriers to using assessments were difficulty reaching parents, respondents not understanding items, and clinicians not having access to measures they like or need. Also, supervision, when received, does not often include EBA. Academic indicators were more regularly collected than any of the 18 clinical assessment tools queried. Qualitative themes including barriers and facilitators to conducting EBA, specific measures' weaknesses and strengths, strategies to increase response rates and regular administration, and program management considerations regarding EBA implementation provide supporting details to these results. Implications for ongoing quality improvement efforts by program managers and clinicians related to the feasible implementation of EBA in school mental health settings are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 60-73 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Cognitive and Behavioral Practice |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2015 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Evidence-based assessment
- Implementation
- School mental health
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
Cite this
Evidence-based assessment in school mental health. / Connors, Elizabeth H.; Arora, Prerna; Curtis, Latisha N; Stephan, Sharon H.
In: Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2015, p. 60-73.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Evidence-based assessment in school mental health
AU - Connors, Elizabeth H.
AU - Arora, Prerna
AU - Curtis, Latisha N
AU - Stephan, Sharon H.
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - Although best practice for children's mental health services emphasizes ongoing assessment and monitoring of clinical progress, community based clinicians inconsistently implement assessment as part of clinical care due to a variety of practical barriers. The current study explores which factors may be related to the use and function of evidence-based assessment (EBA) in real-world, clinical settings, particularly school mental health (SMH). Mixed methodologies surveying a national sample of SMH clinicians and interviewing clinicians and program managers were used to explore current assessment practices, including use of specific tools and barriers, facilitators and attitudes toward EBA. Results indicate that clinician level of experience is negatively related to overall attitudes toward EBA, particularly openness. The most commonly-reported barriers to using assessments were difficulty reaching parents, respondents not understanding items, and clinicians not having access to measures they like or need. Also, supervision, when received, does not often include EBA. Academic indicators were more regularly collected than any of the 18 clinical assessment tools queried. Qualitative themes including barriers and facilitators to conducting EBA, specific measures' weaknesses and strengths, strategies to increase response rates and regular administration, and program management considerations regarding EBA implementation provide supporting details to these results. Implications for ongoing quality improvement efforts by program managers and clinicians related to the feasible implementation of EBA in school mental health settings are discussed.
AB - Although best practice for children's mental health services emphasizes ongoing assessment and monitoring of clinical progress, community based clinicians inconsistently implement assessment as part of clinical care due to a variety of practical barriers. The current study explores which factors may be related to the use and function of evidence-based assessment (EBA) in real-world, clinical settings, particularly school mental health (SMH). Mixed methodologies surveying a national sample of SMH clinicians and interviewing clinicians and program managers were used to explore current assessment practices, including use of specific tools and barriers, facilitators and attitudes toward EBA. Results indicate that clinician level of experience is negatively related to overall attitudes toward EBA, particularly openness. The most commonly-reported barriers to using assessments were difficulty reaching parents, respondents not understanding items, and clinicians not having access to measures they like or need. Also, supervision, when received, does not often include EBA. Academic indicators were more regularly collected than any of the 18 clinical assessment tools queried. Qualitative themes including barriers and facilitators to conducting EBA, specific measures' weaknesses and strengths, strategies to increase response rates and regular administration, and program management considerations regarding EBA implementation provide supporting details to these results. Implications for ongoing quality improvement efforts by program managers and clinicians related to the feasible implementation of EBA in school mental health settings are discussed.
KW - Evidence-based assessment
KW - Implementation
KW - School mental health
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84927660299&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84927660299&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.cbpra.2014.03.008
DO - 10.1016/j.cbpra.2014.03.008
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84927660299
VL - 22
SP - 60
EP - 73
JO - Cognitive and Behavioral Practice
JF - Cognitive and Behavioral Practice
SN - 1077-7229
IS - 1
ER -