SBIR-STTR Award

Fifteen million children and adolescents in the U.S. experience a diagnosable mental health (MH) disorder, with approximately half (6 to 8 million) considered to experience a serious emotional disorder (SED). Integrated, multi- modal community systems to coordinate multiple helpers and provision of multiple interventions have been identified to address the complex and multifaceted problems faced by youth with SED. One such model, the Wraparound service model (WSM), has been cited in multiple major reviews of effective community treatments, and is listed in the Surgeon General's Reports on youth mental health and violence. As is the case for other evidence-based practices, the degree to which data are consistently measured and used to inform care-i.e., "measurement-based care" or MBC-accounts for a large proportion of variance in outcomes for Wraparound. The goal of this SBIR project is to develop and test the Short Message Assisted Responsive Treatment for Wraparound (SMART-Wrap) application to overcome the current barriers to measuring and using data in everyday service settings. SMART-Wrap will facilitate MBC with an SMS system and thus inform and improve both service and clinical outcomes. In Phase I, we will accomplish four specific aims. First, we will work with a diverse group of expert advisors, experienced in developing mental health applications and administering WSM services, to create prototype assessment items and program a web-based `back-end' system for deploying assessment items via customized SMS. Second, we will assess feasibility of this prototype system for youth with SED and their caregivers, as well as determine the psychometric properties of the SMS-based items. Third, we will design and program prototype WSM care team dashboard functions to provide a feasible and acceptable online system for tracking collected data, identifying key findings, and facilitating MBC. Lastly, we will conduct an initial pilot test to evaluate feasibility of SMART-Wrap in typical Wraparound service for youth with SED by having both families and Wraparound care team members use the prototype over a 2-month period. Phase I quantitative and qualitative data will be used to inform the Phase II R&D plan. The proposed SMART-Wrap product will harness the simplicity and accessibility benefits of SMS to significantly improve engagement in Wraparound services and shift current Wraparound practice toward MBC. The end result will be a rigorously tested new mobile Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) solution to help improve service and clinical outcomes for the over six million youth in the U.S. with SED.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Narrative Mental health treatments involving measurement-based care are associated with more positive service and clinical outcomes. Short message system (SMS) interventions in particular have been shown to produce significant clinical improvements and positive health behavior engagement, in part due to the highly accessible nature of the modality. The proposed SBIR project will build upon existing services by developing SMS-based technology and assessing its feasibility, usability, and acceptability in typical Wraparound service model settings.

Project Terms:
Adult; 21+ years old; Adult Human; adulthood; Algorithms; Back; Dorsum; Mental disorders; Mental health disorders; Psychiatric Disease; Psychiatric Disorder; mental illness; psychiatric illness; psychological disorder; Child; 0-11 years old; Child Youth; Children (0-21); youngster; Child health care; child healthcare; Communities; Data Display; Decision Making; Electronic Mail; E-Mail; Email; electronic communication; Health Expenditures; health care expenditure; healthcare expenditure; Family; Feedback; Focus Groups; Foundations; Future; Goals; Health behavior; health related behavior; Hospitalization; Hospital Admission; Mental Health; Mental Hygiene; Psychological Health; On-Line Systems; online computer; web based; Online Systems; Parents; Patient Satisfaction; Client satisfaction; Psychometrics; Public Health; Recommendation; Research; Development and Research; R & D; R&D; research and development; social role; Role; Software; Computer software; Stress; Survey Instrument; Surveys; Technology; Testing; Time; Violence; violent; violent behavior; Work; Measures; Caregivers; Care Givers; Youth; Youth 10-21; Caring; Custom; base; improved; Solid; Clinical; Phase; Adolescent; Adolescent Youth; juvenile; juvenile human; Evaluation; Emotional disorder; postiive attitude; optimism; Licensing; satisfaction; Measurement; Therapeutic; Nature; programs; Complex; System; Services; Surgeon; experience; novel; Participant; member; Controlled Study; outreach; Modality; Reporting; Modeling; behavioral health; Property; develop software; developing computer software; software development; Intervention Strategies; interventional strategy; Intervention; Meta-Analysis; Provider; Address; Symptoms; Evidence based practice; Data; Collection; Enrollment; enroll; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; SBIR; Small Business Innovation Research; Monitor; Modification; follow-up; Active Follow-up; active followup; follow up; followed up; followup; Text; Behavioral; software systems; design; designing; efficacy evaluation; efficacy analysis; efficacy assessment; efficacy examination; evaluate efficacy; examine efficacy; Outcome; cost efficient; health application; handheld mobile device; mobile device; usability; commercial application; prototype; multimodality; multi-modality; evidence base; predict clinical outcome; clinical outcome prediction; predictor of clinical outcome; dashboard; recruit; Text Messaging; short message service; texting; care providers; primary care provider; Service delivery model; Service model; care delivery model; health care delivery model; healthcare delivery model; Service setting; care coordination; coordinating care; Home; pilot test; caregiver stress; care giver stress

Fifteen million children and adolescents in the U.S. experience a diagnosable mental health (MH) disorder, with approximately half (6 to 8 million) considered to experience a serious emotional disorder (SED). Integrated, multi- modal community systems to coordinate multiple helpers and provision of multiple interventions have been identified to address the complex and multifaceted problems faced by youth with SED. One such model, the Wraparound service model (WSM), has been cited in multiple major reviews of effective community treatments, and is listed in the Surgeon General's Reports on youth mental health and violence. As is the case for other evidence-based practices, the degree to which data are consistently measured and used to inform care-i.e., "measurement-based care" or MBC-accounts for a large proportion of variance in outcomes for Wraparound. The goal of this SBIR project is to develop and test the Short Message Assisted Responsive Treatment for Wraparound (SMART-Wrap) application to overcome the current barriers to measuring and using data in everyday service settings. SMART-Wrap will facilitate MBC with an SMS system and thus inform and improve both service and clinical outcomes. In Phase I, we will accomplish four specific aims. First, we will work with a diverse group of expert advisors, experienced in developing mental health applications and administering WSM services, to create prototype assessment items and program a web-based `back-end' system for deploying assessment items via customized SMS. Second, we will assess feasibility of this prototype system for youth with SED and their caregivers, as well as determine the psychometric properties of the SMS-based items. Third, we will design and program prototype WSM care team dashboard functions to provide a feasible and acceptable online system for tracking collected data, identifying key findings, and facilitating MBC. Lastly, we will conduct an initial pilot test to evaluate feasibility of SMART-Wrap in typical Wraparound service for youth with SED by having both families and Wraparound care team members use the prototype over a 2-month period. Phase I quantitative and qualitative data will be used to inform the Phase II R&D plan. The proposed SMART-Wrap product will harness the simplicity and accessibility benefits of SMS to significantly improve engagement in Wraparound services and shift current Wraparound practice toward MBC. The end result will be a rigorously tested new mobile Routine Outcome Monitoring (ROM) solution to help improve service and clinical outcomes for the over six million youth in the U.S. with SED.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Narrative Mental health treatments involving measurement-based care are associated with more positive service and clinical outcomes. Short message system (SMS) interventions in particular have been shown to produce significant clinical improvements and positive health behavior engagement, in part due to the highly accessible nature of the modality. The proposed SBIR project will build upon existing services by developing SMS-based technology and assessing its feasibility, usability, and acceptability in typical Wraparound service model settings.

Project Terms:
Mental health disorders; Psychiatric Disease; Psychiatric Disorder; mental illness; psychiatric illness; psychological disorder; Child; 0-11 years old; Child Youth; Children (0-21); kids; youngster; Child health care; child healthcare; pediatric health care; pediatric healthcare; Communities; Data Display; Decision Making; Electronic Mail; E-Mail; Email; electronic communication; Health Expenditures; health care expenditure; healthcare expenditure; Family; Feedback; Focus Groups; Foundations; Future; Goals; Health behavior; health related behavior; Hospitalization; Hospital Admission; Mental Health; Mental Hygiene; Psychological Health; Online Systems; On-Line Systems; online computer; web based; Parents; parent; Client satisfaction; Patient Satisfaction; Psychometrics; Public Health; Recommendation; Research; research and development; Development and Research; R & D; R&D; Role; social role; Computer software; Software; Stress; Surveys; Survey Instrument; Technology; Testing; Violence; violent; violent behavior; Work; Measures; Care Givers; Caregivers; Youth 10-21; Youth; Caring; health administration; improved; Solid; Clinical; Phase; Adolescent Youth; juvenile; juvenile human; Adolescent; Evaluation; Emotional disorder; postiive attitude; optimism; Licensing; satisfaction; Measurement; Therapeutic; Nature; programs; Complex; System; Services; Surgeon; experience; novel; Participant; member; Controlled Study; outreach; Modality; Reporting; Modeling; behavioral health; Property; software development; develop software; developing computer software; Intervention; Intervention Strategies; interventional strategy; Meta-Analysis; Provider; Address; Symptoms; Evidence based practice; Data; Collection; Enrollment; enroll; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; SBIR; Small Business Innovation Research; Monitor; Modification; follow-up; Active Follow-up; active followup; follow up; followed up; followup; Text; software systems; designing; design; determine efficacy; efficacy analysis; efficacy assessment; efficacy determination; efficacy examination; evaluate efficacy; examine efficacy; efficacy evaluation; Outcome; cost efficient; health application; mobile device; handheld mobile device; usability; commercial application; prototype; multi-modality; multimodality; evidence base; clinical outcome prediction; predictor of clinical outcome; predict clinical outcome; dashboard; recruit; short message service; texting; Text Messaging; care providers; Service model; care delivery model; health care delivery model; healthcare delivery model; Service delivery model; Service setting; coordinating care; care coordination; acceptability and feasibility; homes; Home; pilot test; caregiver stress; care giver stress; 21+ years old; Adult Human; adulthood; Adult; Algorithms; Mental disorders