Precisely measuring and targeting what matters to young adults with mental illness
Poster C115, Wednesday, October%2010, 11:30%20am%20-%201:00%20pm, Essex%20Ballroom
Skye Barbic1,2,3, Steve Mathias1,2,3,4, Karen Tee1, Ian Manion5, Rebecca Zivanovic1,2; 1Foundry, 2University of British Columbia, 3Centre for Health Evaluation Outcome Sciences, 4Providence Health Care, 5University of Ottawa
Aims: The routine use of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in youth mental health provides an opportunity to help drive how health care is organized and delivered. Unfortunately, there is limited consensus on the needs and priorities of youth and ways to measure them.. This study has three questions: (1) What are the health needs and experience of care of youth with mental illness, as identified by youth, (2) What can existing outcome assessments tell stakeholders about the health needs of youth?; and (3) Are these assessments psychometrically fir for purpose for youth? Methods: We used study used a mixed methods measurement approach. For question 1, three focus groups, led by youth collaborators and a Peer Research Partner were conducted. For questions 2 and 3, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of youth with mental illness and used Classical and Rasch measurement psychometric methods to test the reliability and validity of twelve measures for this population. Results: A total of 22 youth participated in the focus groups (mean age 21.9, SD 2.3) and 350 youth completed the questionnaires (mean age 21.5, SD 2.1). A model of health and an in-depth diagnostic report for ten commonly used scales resulted. Conclusions: The study supports a preliminary conceptual and measurement model for understanding the mental health needs of youth with mental illness. The results will contribute much needed evidence towards how to used youth-centred robust measurement to improve the standard of care for young adults who experience mental illness in Canada and beyond.
Topic Area: Service System Development and Reform