A System to Support Diverse Social Program Management

McKillop, Mollie; Snowdon, Jane L.; Willis, Van C; Alevy, Shira; Rizvi, Rubina F.; Rewalt, Karen; Lefebvre-Paillé, Charlyne; Kassler, William; Jackson, Gretchen Purcell

doi:10.2196/23219

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 18 publications

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“…As reported in earlier studies, an advanced technology-based tool could enhance the care delivery process through the integration of data- and information-coordinated care. The benefit of such a tool ranges from providing comprehensive services to various stakeholders across governments, nonprofits, and other organizations to addressing the challenges of information silos and limited resources [ 19 , 22 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding a Care Management System’s Role in Influencing a Transitional-Aged Youth Program’s Practice: Mixed Methods Study

Rizvi¹,

VanHouten²,

Willis³

et al. 2022

JMIR Hum Factors

Self Cite

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Background Extended foster care programs help prepare transitional-aged youth (TAY) to step into adulthood and live independent lives. Aspiranet, one of California’s largest social service organizations, used a social care management solution (SCMS) to meet TAY’s needs. Objective We aimed to investigate the impact of an SCMS, IBM Watson Care Manager (WCM), in transforming foster program service delivery and improving TAY outcomes. Methods We used a mixed methods study design by collecting primary data from stakeholders through semistructured interviews in 2021 and by pulling secondary data from annual reports, system use logs, and data repositories from 2014 to 2021. Thematic analysis based on grounded theory was used to analyze qualitative data using NVivo software. Descriptive analysis of aggregated outcome metrics in the quantitative data was performed and compared across 2 periods: pre-SCMS implementation (before October 31, 2016) and post-SCMS implementation (November 1, 2016, and March 31, 2021). Results In total, 6 Aspiranet employees (4 leaders and 2 life coaches) were interviewed, with a median time of 56 (IQR 53-67) minutes. The majority (5/6, 83%) were female, over 30 years of age (median 37, IQR 32-39) with a median of 6 (IQR 5-10) years of experience at Aspiranet and overall field experience of 10 (IQR 7-14) years. Most (4/6, 67%) participants rated their technological skills as expert. Thematic analysis of participants’ interview transcripts yielded 24 subthemes that were grouped into 6 superordinate themes: study context, the impact of the new tool, key strengths, commonly used features, expectations with WCM, and limitations and recommendations. The tool met users’ initial expectations of streamlining tasks and adopting essential functionalities. Median satisfaction scores around pre- and post-WCM workflow processes remained constant between 2 life coaches (3.25, IQR 2.5-4); however, among leaders, post-WCM scores (median 4, IQR 4-5) were higher than pre-WCM scores (median 3, IQR 3-3). Across the 2 study phases, Aspiranet served 1641 TAY having consistent population demographics (median age of 18, IQR 18-19 years; female: 903/1641, 55.03%; race and ethnicity: Hispanic or Latino: 621/1641, 37.84%; Black: 470/1641, 28.64%; White: 397/1641, 24.19%; Other: 153/1641, 9.32%). Between the pre- and post-WCM period, there was an increase in full-time school enrollment (359/531, 67.6% to 833/1110, 75.04%) and a reduction in part-time school enrollment (61/531, 11.5% to 91/1110, 8.2%). The median number of days spent in the foster care program remained the same (247, IQR 125-468 years); however, the number of incidents reported monthly per hundred youth showed a steady decline, even with an exponentially increasing number of enrolled youth and incidents. Conclusions The SCMS for coordinating care and delivering tailored services to TAY streamlined Aspiranet’s workflows and processes and positively impacted youth outcomes. Further enhancements are needed to better align with user and youth needs.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding a Care Management System’s Role in Influencing a Transitional-Aged Youth Program’s Practice: Mixed Methods Study

Rizvi¹,

VanHouten²,

Willis³

et al. 2022

JMIR Hum Factors

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Understanding a Care Management System’s Role in Influencing a Transitional Aged Youth Program’s Practice – A Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

Rizvi¹,

VanHouten²,

Willis³

et al. 2022

Preprint

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BACKGROUND Extended foster care programs help prepare transitional-aged youth (TAY) to step into adulthood and live independent lives. Aspiranet, one of California’s largest social service organizations, employed a social care management solution (SCMS) to render effective, efficient, and tailored services to meet TAY’s needs. OBJECTIVE This study’s purpose was to investigate the impact of a SCMS, IBM Watson Care Manager (WCM)® in transforming foster program service delivery and improve TAY outcomes. METHODS A mixed-methods study was employed by collecting primary data from stakeholders through semi-structured interviews in 2021 and pulling secondary data from various resources including annual reports, system usage logs, and data repositories from 2014 to 2021. Thematic analysis based on grounded theory was employed to analyze qualitative data using NVivo® software. Descriptive analysis of aggregated outcome metrics in the quantitative data was performed and compared across two time periods: Pre-SCMS (before 10/31/2016) and Post-SCMS (11/01/2016-03/31/2021). RESULTS Six Aspiranet employees (4 leaders, 2 life coaches) were interviewed with median time of 56 (53,67) minutes. The majority were female (5,83%), over 30 years of age (median, (Q1,Q3)=37, (32,39)) with 6 (5,10) median years of experience at Aspiranet, and overall field experience of 10 (7,14) years. The majority of participants (4,67%) rated their technology skills as expert. Thematic analysis of participants’ interview transcripts resulted in 24 sub-themes that were grouped into 6 super-ordinate themes: study context, impact of the new tool, key strengths, commonly used features, expectations with WCM, and limitations and recommendations. The tool met users’ initial expectations of streamlining tasks and adopting essential functionalities such as cross-team communications, intuitive dashboard, and advanced search engine. Median satisfaction scores around Pre- and Post-WCM workflow processes remained constant between two life coaches (3.25 (2.5, 4)); however, among leaders, Post-WCM scores (4 (4, 5)) were higher than Pre-WCM (3 (3, 3)) scores. Across the two study phases, Aspiranet served 1,641 TAY having consistent population demographics: median age of 18 years (18,19); female (903,55%); race/ethnicity (Hispanic/Latino (621,38%), Black (470,29%), White (397,24%), and Other (153,9%)). Between Pre- and Post-WCM, there was an increase in full-time (359(68%) to 833(75%)) and a reduction in part-time (61(11%) to 91(8%)) school enrollment. The median number of days spent in the foster care program remained the same (247 (125, 468)), however, the number of incidents monthly reported per hundred youth showed a steady decline even with an exponentially increasing number of enrolled youth and incidents. CONCLUSIONS The SCMS for coordinating care and delivering tailored services to TAY streamlined Aspiranet’s workflows and processes and positively impacted youth outcomes. Further enhancements are needed to for even better alignment with user and youth needs.

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A System to Support Diverse Social Program Management

Cited by 2 publications

References 18 publications

Understanding a Care Management System’s Role in Influencing a Transitional-Aged Youth Program’s Practice: Mixed Methods Study

Understanding a Care Management System’s Role in Influencing a Transitional-Aged Youth Program’s Practice: Mixed Methods Study

Understanding a Care Management System’s Role in Influencing a Transitional Aged Youth Program’s Practice – A Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

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