TY - JOUR
T1 - Warm Handoffs for Improving Client Receipt of Services
T2 - A Systematic Review
AU - Taylor, R. Morgan
AU - Minkovitz, Cynthia S.
N1 - Funding Information:
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under cooperative agreement UD5MC30792, Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Research and Development Platform. We are thankful to our colleague Lori Rosman, MLS, AHIP at the Welch Medical Library who provided expertise in constructing search strategies. We also express gratitude to Emily Sexton who contributed to title and abstract screening and Anne Duggan, ScD who provided comments on earlier drafts.
Funding Information:
This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under cooperative agreement UD5MC30792, Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Research and Development Platform. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - Introduction: Warm handoffs intend to improve receipt of services by clients who receive referrals to services that are stigmatized or not easily accessible. Such strategies are characterized as the handoff or transfer of an individual between two service providers through a face-to-face, phone, or technology-assisted interaction. This approach may be useful for maternal and child health home visitors who provide direct services and facilitate connections to community resources for client families. However, little is known about the effectiveness of warm handoffs. Methods: A systematic review of the literature on warm handoffs was conducted with studies identified in four databases. Full text was reviewed for studies for which abstracts met inclusion criteria or for which abstracts were not available. Evidence tables summarizing study characteristics, outcome measures and data sources, intervention descriptions, intervention components, and study results were constructed. Results: Of the 42,816 unique articles identified, 32,163 titles/abstracts were screened, 227 qualified for full text review, and five comprised the study sample. Three studies examined referrals from substance use treatment centers to self-help groups, one from federally qualified health centers to community mental health clinics, and one from a mobile needle exchange program to substance use treatment/intake. Three studies showed increases in receipt of services by clients following referral between the warm handoff intervention and control group. Discussion: Current evidence regarding the effectiveness of warm handoffs is limited. An examination of the effectiveness of warm handoffs in the context of home visits is needed to assess whether they facilitate client referrals.
AB - Introduction: Warm handoffs intend to improve receipt of services by clients who receive referrals to services that are stigmatized or not easily accessible. Such strategies are characterized as the handoff or transfer of an individual between two service providers through a face-to-face, phone, or technology-assisted interaction. This approach may be useful for maternal and child health home visitors who provide direct services and facilitate connections to community resources for client families. However, little is known about the effectiveness of warm handoffs. Methods: A systematic review of the literature on warm handoffs was conducted with studies identified in four databases. Full text was reviewed for studies for which abstracts met inclusion criteria or for which abstracts were not available. Evidence tables summarizing study characteristics, outcome measures and data sources, intervention descriptions, intervention components, and study results were constructed. Results: Of the 42,816 unique articles identified, 32,163 titles/abstracts were screened, 227 qualified for full text review, and five comprised the study sample. Three studies examined referrals from substance use treatment centers to self-help groups, one from federally qualified health centers to community mental health clinics, and one from a mobile needle exchange program to substance use treatment/intake. Three studies showed increases in receipt of services by clients following referral between the warm handoff intervention and control group. Discussion: Current evidence regarding the effectiveness of warm handoffs is limited. An examination of the effectiveness of warm handoffs in the context of home visits is needed to assess whether they facilitate client referrals.
KW - Referral and consultation
KW - Systematic review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85098629173&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85098629173&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10995-020-03057-4
DO - 10.1007/s10995-020-03057-4
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33392929
AN - SCOPUS:85098629173
SN - 1092-7875
VL - 25
SP - 528
EP - 541
JO - Maternal and child health journal
JF - Maternal and child health journal
IS - 4
ER -