The Relationship Between Wait Time After Triage and Show Rate for Intake in a Nonurgent Student Population

Abstract

Ideally, students requesting services should be seen quickly at their university counseling center to increase the likelihood of a successful treatment outcome. However, in these times of ever-increasing demand for university counseling services and the challenges of securing resources to keep up with that demand, the reality of prompt appointments can be far different during most of the academic year. This study looked at the relationship between wait time after triage and show rate for intake at a large counseling center that uses a triage walk-in-clinic format for students accessing services. Although triage allows for an appropriate rapid response to the most at-risk students, we were concerned about attrition among "average" students seeking counseling, assessed as nonurgent at triage, during the wait for their intake. The current study found a statistically significant positive relationship for this nonurgent population between length of wait time after triage and no-show rate for the scheduled intake after triage. We present preliminary thoughts about these findings, discuss our study limitations, and pose future research questions.

Correlates of a University Counseling Center’s Perceived Service Promptness

“…All data are self-reported and cross-sectional, including the retrospective estimate of days waited to begin counseling after triage. It should be noted that the self-reported mean wait time of 15 days for this UCC sample was very consistent with the record-based 16-day mean wait time, using a separate prior sample at the same UCC, reported by DiMino and Blau (2012). One-item measures for mental distress level and wait bother experience do not allow for calculating reliability estimates.…”

“…Alternative strategies to "hold" these clients after triage and until intake (Kitzrow, 2009) may be necessary (e.g., psychoeducational groups, drop-in counseling, self-help centers). Prior research has shown that a longer wait time after triage led to a higher no show rate at intake (DiMino & Blau, 2012). However, DiMino and Blau (2012) did not measure wait experience.…”

“…Non-urgent clients may have to wait to begin counseling. Research has found that a longer wait time for non-urgent clients led to higher subsequent no-show rate for beginning counseling (DiMino & Blau, 2012). What variables affect the relationship between wait time and showing up to begin counseling for non-urgent clients is in need of further study.…”

Testing the Impact of Counseling over Time on Non-Urgent Undergraduate Life Satisfaction

“…Millennial college students have been stereotyped as "typically impatient, want-it-now" (Rickes, 2009). Prior research has shown that as wait time increased between triage and intake, clients were less likely to show up for the scheduled intake (DiMino & Blau, 2012).…”

“…Kopta et al (2014) In order to "hold" non-urgent triaged clients to increase their show-rates for their intake session, experimenting with such strategies, as a self-help center and group counseling may be helpful. Follow-up with no-shows to find out why they did not come to intake (DiMino & Blau, 2012) may also be helpful (e.g., used other coping resources, problem resolved, gave up waiting).…”