PubMed · 16317332
The source did not provide an abstract. Follow the original record for more information.
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Jackie Birmingham, Renata Colon. Case managers implement "action" plans.. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16317332/
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.
KEEP EXPLORING
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the level of inter-rater reliability of the Illinois Structured Decision Support Protocol by examining the level of Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers' agreement regarding state interventions. The Protocol was designed to guide CPS workers to consistent decisions related to the level of state intervention in child maltreatment cases. METHOD: Forty-one workers recruited from three CPS field offices in Illinois participated in this study by assessing three cases using the Illinois Structured Decision Support Protocol. The three cases were developed based on actual cases investigated by the agency. The kappa statistic was used to calculate the level of workers' agreement. RESULTS: The result showed a weak reliability (kappa=.29). Further analysis showed that workers identified a wide range of risk factors and differing levels of intervention for each identified risk factor even among the workers who made the same final decisions. CONCLUSIONS: Decision support protocols are developed to provide systematic structures for workers' decision-making. However, this study suggested that workers demonstrated a low level of agreement on such a protocol. Several suggestions for developing more reliable computerized protocols include: more specified inquiries with criteria to assess the range of risk for a factor, consideration of interactions among risk factors, assessment of family strengths, and having the final decision made by a computerized program.
BACKGROUND: Heroin dependence is a chronic relapsing disease often requiring multiple treatment experiences. Despite this knowledge, few methadone programs follow-up with discharged patients who frequently continue to engage in risky behaviors. The aim of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of outreach case management for post-discharged methadone patients. METHODS: At 90 days post-discharge 128 active out of treatment heroin users were randomly assigned to receive either a passive referral (PR) for drug treatment (n=52) or were provided with 6 weeks of outreach case management (OCM), an intervention designed to help motivate and coach patients to re-enter treatment (n=76). RESULTS: At 6 months post-baseline 29% of the OCM participants had successfully re-enrolled in drug treatment compared to 8% of the PR participants (chi(2)=7.6, d.f.=1, p=0.006). A logistic regression analysis showed that OCM participants were nearly six times more likely than PR participants to re-engage in MMT (OR=5.8, CI=1.6-20.8, p=0.008). Moreover, OCM subjects had fewer opiate and cocaine positive urines at the 6-month follow-up compared to PR subjects. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the importance of engaging former patients in treatment and actively assisting in treatment re-entry. OCM is a simple approach to reduce the number of out-of-treatment drug users, although availability of treatment funding limits enrollment opportunities.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.