Confidentiality Intervention: Effects on Collaboration

Bogart, Christina

Abstract

The proposed pilot study is a collaborative effort of researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, Montgomery County Office of Mental Health, consumers of the Abington and Pottstown consumer centers, and families of the Montgomery County Alliance for the Mentally Ill. The goal of the research is to examine whether confidentiality policies, which do not specify procedures for releasing information to families, pose a barrier to consumer- provider-family collaboration. This question will be approached in two ways: first, by examining how confidentiality policies regarding the release of information to families by providers are currently interpreted and implemented, and second, by examining the effectiveness of a provider intervention that clarifies confidentiality policies for the release of information to families. The intervention will be introduced into one agency and compared with a second agency that receives no intervention. Thus, a quasi-experimental design will be employed. The effectiveness of the intervention will be assessed by measuring collaboration as reported by families and providers. Family outcome measures include the frequency of contact, array of information shared, and the strength of the relationship between providers and families when controlling for race/ethnicity, length of time since onset of illness, length of time of relative's involvement in the agency, support group involvement, family attitudes towards collaboration and fidelity. Provider outcome measures include the frequency of contact, array of information shared, and the strength of the relationship between providers and families when controlling for size of provider caseload, provider shift, provider attitudes towards collaboration and fidelity.