Study

February 17, 2012 permalink

Chatham-Kent CAS is inviting clients to participate in a study conducted through the University of Western Ontario. It is called Continuity of Care in Children's Mental Health. Chances are CAS is promoting it because they expect the outcome will support them in some way.

Fixcas does not have the questionnaire. If you have one, please forward a copy to Canada Court Watch or fixcas.

Here is the invitation, with the client's name, address and exact date fictionalized.

expand

collapse

495 Grand Ave. West, Chatham, Ontario N7L 1C5
Phone: 519-352-0440 Fax: 519-352-4152

John Doe
1 Main Street
Somewhere, Ontario

February (day), 2012

Dear Parent/Guardian of John Jr,

Researchers from Western University (formerly the University of Western Ontario) are doing a study about families' experiences of receiving children's mental health services. Chatham-Kent Children's" Services has decided to be part of the study because we think the results will help us better understand how we can improve our services.

The study, entitled 'Continuity of Care in Children's Mental Health,' will ask about different aspects of the care you have received, including relationships with staff and communication related to your child's care. The researchers are looking for parents of children ages 4 to 18 years. In order to complete the forms, you should have had 3 or more visits with staff from Chatham-Kent Children's Services in the past year.

You can find more information on the enclosed letter of information and on the study website, at www.continuitystudy.uwo.ca.

We ask that you indicate on the form included here if you are willing to be contacted and return the form to the research team, using the stamped envelope provided. If you are interested, a researcher from Western will then follow up with you by telephone to give you more details about the study and answer any questions you may have.

Your decision to participate or not will not affect the services you receive at Chatham-Kent Children's Services.

Thank you for your interest.

/signature/

JoDee Anderson, M.A.
Director, Mental Health & Development

---

Continuity of Care in Children's Mental Health

The UNIVERSITY of WESTERN ONTARIO
Westminster Hall, 3rd Floor East • London, ON • N6A 3K7
1-877-850-2336 • www.continuitystudy.uwo.ca

Continuity of Care in Children's Mental Health: Development of a Measure

PARENT LETTER OF INFORMATION

Investigators: Graham J. Reid, Ph.D.	Psychology & Family Medicine, UWO	Principal Investigator
Juliana Tobon, M.Sc.	Psychology, UWO	Co-Investigator
Shannon Stewart, Ph.D	Child and Parent Resource Institute	Co-Investigator
Barrie Evans, Ph.D.	Thames Valley District School Board	Co-Investigator
Judith B. Brown, Ph.D.	Family Medicine, UWO	Co-Investigator
Richard Goffm, Ph.D.	Psychology, UWO	Co-Investigator

Purpose:

The purpose of this research is to find out how parents experience continuity of care in the children's mental health system. We are also interested in looking at how continuity of care is related to the amount of time in treatment, parental stress levels, and satisfaction with services. You were invited to be a part of this study because you contacted one of several children's agencies in Southern Ontario participating in this study.

Procedures:

First, you will receive a questionnaire by email or in the mail that will take about 45 minutes to complete. The questionnaire will ask you about your experience of continuity of care within the agency, between providers, between agencies, and between other providers, such as your child's school and your family doctor. Second, along with the questionnaire, you will receive 6 other measures that will take approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Finally, along with the questionnaires, there will be a consent form asking your permission for the agency to share your visit dates with our research team so that we get a measure of your service use. You will also indicate your consent for your primary clinician to complete their rating of your continuity of care and a therapeutic relationship measure, and to indicate whether you have had any involvement with the education, primary care and child welfare sectors for services.

The information you tell us is confidential to our research team and will not be shared with the agency. In appreciation of your time, you will be compensated with a $20 gift certificate of your choice from Tim Hortons, Starbucks, Chapters, or McDonalds.

If you are interested in the results of the study, we will provide you with a one-page summary of the findings once the study is complete.

Turn Over

---

Risks and Discomforts:

This study may make you think about things you have not thought about before. It is possible that reflecting on issues related to your child's mental health care might cause you distress or emotional upset. You may choose not to fill out the questionnaires at any time. In addition, you will be provided with a list of community resources to contact if you become upset or distressed while you complete the questionnaires. Otherwise, there are no known risks related to being in this study. You may not benefit directly from being in this study. The information from this study may be used to help develop new procedures and questionnaires to help families and children like yours.

Voluntary Participation:

Participation in this study is voluntary. You may refuse to participate and you may refuse to answer any questions or withdraw from the study at any time with no effect on your child's care. Completion and return of the questionnaire indicates your consent to participate in the study.

Confidentiality and Privacy:

All information obtained for the study is confidential. All forms have a code number to ensure confidentiality. Identifying information such as your name will be kept separate from your answers. Only the principal investigators (Dr. Reid and Ms. Tobon) and research assistants will have access to your identifying information. The rest of the research team will not have access to your name or other identifying information. All forms are stored in a locked filing cabinet for security. Information in this study is only for research. When the study results are presented or published your name or your child's name will never be used. Although we recruited you from a children's centre in the community, the research team is based at the University of Western Ontario in the Departments of Psychology and Family Medicine. Information gathered for this project will not be shared with staff at the children's mental health center. The clinician that you identify during the telephone screening will be aware of your participation, but will not have access to your responses. Some of the information gathered for the research study may overlap with information gathered as part of clinical services at the center you have contacted. Therefore, it is possible that there will be some overlap in the information provided.

Representatives of The University of Western Ontario Health Sciences Research Ethics Board may contact you or require access to your study-related records to monitor the conduct of the research.

Contact Information:

This letter is for you to keep. If you have any questions about this project, please call Dr. Graham Reid at (519) 661-2111 x84677. If you have any questions about the conduct of this study or your rights as a research subject you may contact the Director, Office of Research Ethics, The University of Western Ontario, 519-661-3036, email ethics@uwo.ca/ Dr. David Hill, Scientific Director, Lawson Health Research Institute at (519) 667-6649.

/signature/

Dr. Graham Reid, C. Psych.
Associate Professor, Psychology & Family Medicine and Paediatrics

---

PARENTS NEEDED FOR RESEARCH PARTICIPATION

Have you had at least 3 face-to-face appointments with staff from Chatham-Kent Children's Services?

Dr. Graham Reid and researchers from The University of Western Ontario, in partnership with Chatham-Kent Children's Services, are doing a study about parents' experience of continuity of care in children's mental health.

• What does it involve?
  • First, a researcher will contact you by phone to tell you about the study.
  • Participation is voluntary and you can refuse to participate.
  • If you choose to participate, you will be sent a questionnaire that will take about 1 hour to complete.
  • Please see the enclosed Letter of Information for more details, including confidentiality and compensation.
• Are you interested in hearing about the study?

  ☐ Yes → please complete the form below

  ☐ No Thanks → can you please tell us why:

  ☐ I have not had 3 face-to-face appointments
  ☐ My child is under 4 years of age
  ☐ My child is over 18 years of age
  ☐ I have already been asked about this study
  ☐ I am involved in another research study
  ☐ Not interested
  ☐ Other: __________________

Please complete if interested.

Child/Youth's Name: _______________________
Child/Youth's Date of Birth: ______________
Parent's Name: ____________________________
Phone number: __________________
Child/Youth's Gender:   ☐ Boy   ☐ Girl
Best time to call:   ☐ 8am - noon   ☐ noon - 4pm   ☐ 4pm - 8pm

Please return your completed form to The University of Western Ontario in the stamped envelope provided. This form can also be completed online at www.continuitystudy.uwo.ca.

Thank you!

Source: Not disclosed on this kind of report