Routine outcome monitoring of evidence-based parenting programmes: indications of effectiveness in a community context

Abstract

Purpose – Despite an increasing policy focus, routine outcome monitoring (ROM) is not common practice in UK children's services. This paper aims to examine whether it is feasible and valid to use measures from ROM of evidence-based parenting programmes (EBPPs) to assess the impact of services and to drive service improvements through feedback mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach – This is a secondary analysis of ROM measures collected from a London clinic offering EBPPs over five years. Demographic information from referrals was compared for attendees and non-attendees. Changes in parent reported child behaviour were measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Findings – No significant differences were found in socio-demographic characteristics of attendees and non-attendees. Statistically significant differences were found between pre- and post-scores on parent reported SDQ scores and VAS concerns, as well as the SDQ Added Value Score. The data collected did not allow for investigation of a dose-response relationship between the level of attendance and any improvement made. Originality/value – This study illustrates that ROM can provide useful information about the impact of EBPPs in a particular clinical context. Demographic data could support service managers to evaluate reach and uptake while evidence of improvements can be communicated back to parents and support future funding bids. Incomplete data limited the inferences that could be drawn, and collaborations between research centres and clinics may be a way to optimise the use of ROM to drive service improvement and innovation.

Delivering a Parenting Program in South Africa: The Impact of Implementation on Outcomes

“…Even though only some of the parenting intervention studies report overall fidelity rates (Gardner et al 2015), most of the published information on implementation of parenting interventions comes from experimental evaluations rather than routine delivery. However, as parenting programs are already widely implemented, it would be beneficial for future research to also draw on outcome monitoring in ordinary service delivery (Hurst et al 2014) as this can greatly enlarge the pool of available data to examine the relationships between implementation and participant outcomes.…”

A comparison of parent reported outcome with experience of services

“…The mean SDQ AVS for clinics sending data to CORC have been positive (mean=0.19 see www.CORC.uk.net, Wolpert et al, 2012b;Fugard et al, 2014), and reanalysis of trial data suggests that the SDQ AVS functions as expected (Ford et al, 2009;Rotheray et al 2014). Similarly, the smaller study based on one of the services that participated in the current work (Byrne et al 1999), Australian clinics working secondary school-age children (Matthai et al, 2003) and routine data from an Inner London clinic on parenting (Hurst et al, 2014) detected clinically and statistically significant change over a similar time period using the SDQ.…”

Associations between evidence-based practice and mental health outcomes in child and adolescent mental health services

“…However, there is evidence to suggest that complexities, such as comorbidity and stressful life circumstances, reduce the success of evidence-based practice (EBP) when implemented as part of routine care rather than under the controlled conditions of efficacy trials (Weisz, Jensen-Doss, & Hawley, 2006; Weisz et al, 2009). As a result, there is increasing emphasis on evaluating the impact of EBPs as they are implemented in ‘real life settings’ (Hurst, Price, Davies, Doolan, & Ford, 2014). This article further explores the extent to which EBPs, as opposed to non-EBPs, are associated with more pronounced improvements in mental health symptoms, by comparing the mental health outcomes of children receiving the EBP treatments of CBT or PT to those receiving non-EBP (e.g.…”