SKIP for PA Study: Team and Leadership Level Implementation Support for Collaborative Care

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Child Behavior Problem; Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders
• Interventions: Behavioral: Implementation support strategies at the leadership level following standard implementation of DOCC

• Registration Number: NCT04946253
• Lead Sponsor: University of Pittsburgh

Brief Summary

In a prior application (MH064372), the investigators' treatment research program (Services for Kids In Primary-care, SKIP) developed and tested a chronic care model-based intervention, called Doctor Office Collaborative Care (DOCC), that was found to be effective in the management of childhood behavior problems and comorbid ADHD. In the "SKIP for PA Study", the investigators propose to conduct a randomized clinical trial to evaluate the effects of team- and practice leadership-level implementation strategies designed to enhance the use and uptake of DOCC in diverse pediatric primary care offices.

Detailed Description

This study is a randomized, hybrid type 3 effectiveness-implementation trial to support the adoption of a chronic care model (CCM)-based intervention in pediatric primary care settings by testing the impact of implementation strategies directed towards the provider care team (TEAM) or practice leadership (LEAD) level. The treatment investigators seek to deliver here is called Doctor Office Collaborative Care (DOCC), an evidence-based intervention for the management of child behavior problems and comorbid ADHD. The implementation strategies being tested to enhance DOCC uptake include TEAM coaching/consultation strategies, which will be delivered to care team providers and target provider competency to deliver DOCC, and LEAD facilitation strategies, which will be delivered to practice leaders and target organizational support of DOCC delivery. These multi-level implementation strategies have not been formally evaluated to learn about their separate and combined effects in any randomized clinical trial conducted in pediatric primary care. Such information is needed to optimize our approaches to promoting the implementation of a CCM-based intervention in pediatric practice.

The sample includes up to 24 primary care practices from a statewide network and other networks or states. After standard training in the DOCC EBP, all practices will be randomized to one of four implementation conditions: 1) No TEAM or LEAD (ongoing technical support only); 2) TEAM implementation; 3) LEAD implementation, or 4) TEAM+LEAD implementation. TEAM and LEAD implementation will be delivered via videoconference on a graded schedule. Care teams will deliver DOCC to up to 25 children (or more if requested by the practice) who meet a clinical cutoff for modest behavior problems and their caregivers. Investigators will collect practice/provider measures from enrolled practice staff (0, 6, 12, 18, 24 months) and caregivers over several timepoints (0, 3, 6, 12 months) to support all analyses evaluating implementation and treatment outcomes, mediation, and moderation. By proposing one of the first large pragmatic pediatric trials of a CCM-based evidence-based intervention to address these aims in response to RFA-MH-18-701 and the NIMH's Strategic Plan (4.2), this research will advance the implementation science knowledge needed to optimize promising strategies for promoting the delivery and scale-up of DOCC in a pediatric medical home.

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2021-06-22
• Study First Submitted QC: 2021-06-22
• Study First Posted: 2021-06-30
• Study Start: 2021-11-28
• Status Verified: 2025-01
• Last Update Submitted: 2025-03-19
• Last Update Posted: 2025-03-20
• Primary Completion: 2026-11
• Study Completion: 2026-11

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 450

Inclusion Criteria

• PCP Participants:

  • Employed at one of the up to twenty-four (24) pediatric primary care practices identified by the PA Medical Home Program at the PA AAP or by the University of Pittsburgh research team.
  • Identified by the practice as a Primary Care Provider

• CM Participants:

  • Employed at one of the up to twenty-four (24) pediatric primary care practices identified by the PA Medical Home Program at the PA AAP or by the University of Pittsburgh research team.
  • Identified by the practice as a Behavioral Health Resource who delivers and coordinates behavioral health care in the practice, who will function in the study as a care manager.

• SL Participants:

  • Employed at one of the up to twenty-four (24) pediatric primary care practices identified by the PA Medical Home Program at the PA AAP or by the University of Pittsburgh research team.
  • Identified by the practice as the Senior Leader.
  • Have a practice-level leadership role such as Medical Director or a clinical/practice leader
  • Have administrative responsibilities related to patient care and/or the operations/management of the practice

• PM Participants:

  • Employed at one of the up to twenty-four (24) pediatric primary care practices identified by the PA Medical Home Program at the PA AAP or by the University of Pittsburgh research team.
  • Identified by the practice as the Practice Manager or equivalent position
  • Are responsible for day-to-day practice operations, such as personnel management, billing, and compliance with regulations, in the pediatric practice.

• Caregiver Participants:

  • Have a child age 5-12 years old who exhibits at least a modest level of behavior problems (Caregiver Participants)
  • Are at least 18 years of age (Caregiver participants)
  • Have parental rights for this child (Caregiver participants)

Exclusion Criteria

• Caregivers

  • Already enrolled in the study as the caregiver to a different child (e.g., sibling) (Caregiver participants)

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: FACTORIAL

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
DOCC with TEAM + LEAD implementation	Implementation support strategies at the leadership level following standard implementation of DOCC	Practices in this arm will receive DOCC training and materials and both types of implementation support after the training: coaching/consultation for the provider care team (TEAM) and facilitation for practice leadership (LEAD).
DOCC with LEAD implementation	Implementation support strategies at the leadership level following standard implementation of DOCC	Practices in this arm will receive DOCC training and materials and only one type of implementation support after the training: facilitation for practice leadership (LEAD).

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Total number of DOCC encounters	Throughout services after each contact, up to 12 months	As part of a short checklist-style progress note completed after each service contact and housed in the study's web-based patient registry dashboard, providers will document each DOCC encounter delivered to each family. These encounters include referral, assessment, treatment or medication delivery, medication or treatment review/monitoring, case management, review of emergent symptoms, and care management and consultation meetings involving a family member. Investigators will report the total number of DOCC encounters delivered to each family during the intervention phase.
Care management competencies and functions	At provider baseline	The Mental Health Practice Readiness Inventory will be completed to document the degree to which a practice has the organizational and individual competencies needed to support integrated BH care. All 32 items reflect the diverse activities (e.g., workflows, financing, service delivery, care coordination) suggested as functions for PCPs (scale: 0 = no function exists; 1 = some function; 2 = function is complete). Thus, total scale scores can range from 0 to 64. Investigators will use scores for each of the 32 competency items (range 0-2) and the total score (range 0-64) to describe the overall level of collaborative care competencies achieved per practice.
Change from baseline in care management competencies and functions at 6 months	6 months after provider baseline	The Mental Health Practice Readiness Inventory will be completed to document the degree to which a practice has the organizational and individual competencies needed to support integrated BH care. All 32 items reflect the diverse activities (e.g., workflows, financing, service delivery, care coordination) suggested as functions for PCPs (scale: 0 = no function exists; 1 = some function; 2 = function is complete). Thus, total scale scores can range from 0 to 64. Investigators will use scores for each of the 32 competency items (range 0-2) and the total score (range 0-64) to describe the overall level of collaborative care competencies achieved per practice.
Change from baseline in care management competencies and functions at 12 months	12 months after provider baseline	The Mental Health Practice Readiness Inventory will be completed to document the degree to which a practice has the organizational and individual competencies needed to support integrated BH care. All 32 items reflect the diverse activities (e.g., workflows, financing, service delivery, care coordination) suggested as functions for PCPs (scale: 0 = no function exists; 1 = some function; 2 = function is complete). Thus, total scale scores can range from 0 to 64. Investigators will use scores for each of the 32 competency items (range 0-2) and the total score (range 0-64) to describe the overall level of collaborative care competencies achieved per practice.
Change from baseline in care management competencies and functions at 18 months	18 months after provider baseline	The Mental Health Practice Readiness Inventory will be completed to document the degree to which a practice has the organizational and individual competencies needed to support integrated BH care. All 32 items reflect the diverse activities (e.g., workflows, financing, service delivery, care coordination) suggested as functions for PCPs (scale: 0 = no function exists; 1 = some function; 2 = function is complete). Thus, total scale scores can range from 0 to 64. Investigators will use scores for each of the 32 competency items (range 0-2) and the total score (range 0-64) to describe the overall level of collaborative care competencies achieved per practice.
Change from baseline in care management competencies and functions at 24 months	24 months after provider baseline	The Mental Health Practice Readiness Inventory will be completed to document the degree to which a practice has the organizational and individual competencies needed to support integrated BH care. All 32 items reflect the diverse activities (e.g., workflows, financing, service delivery, care coordination) suggested as functions for PCPs (scale: 0 = no function exists; 1 = some function; 2 = function is complete). Thus, total scale scores can range from 0 to 64. Investigators will use scores for each of the 32 competency items (range 0-2) and the total score (range 0-64) to describe the overall level of collaborative care competencies achieved per practice.
Severity of ADHD, ODD, CD, and ANX/DEP symptoms at home and in community	At caregiver baseline	To assess the severity of the child's behavioral and emotional problems, the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale will be completed by caregivers. The VADPRS includes 5 symptom severity subscales, each with a varying number of items: (hyperactivity/impulsivity (n=9), inattention (n=9), oppositional behavior (n=7), conduct problems (n=15), and anxiety/depression (n=7). The scores for the hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention subscales are often aggregated to create an overall ADHD scale factor total score. Individual items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = occasionally; 2 = often; 3 = very often). There is also a performance (impairment) subscale (n=7) used to determine whether a child would meet clinical criteria for a given disorder. The range of scores per factor are as follows: hyperactivity/impulsivity (27), inattention (27), oppositional behavior (21), conduct problems (45), anxiety/depression (21) ,and performance (24).
Change from baseline in severity of ADHD, ODD, CD, and ANX/DEP symptoms at home and in community at 3 months	3 months after caregiver baseline	To assess the severity of the child's behavioral and emotional problems, the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale will be completed by caregivers. The VADPRS includes 5 symptom severity subscales, each with a varying number of items: (hyperactivity/impulsivity (n=9), inattention (n=9), oppositional behavior (n=7), conduct problems (n=15), and anxiety/depression (n=7). The scores for the hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention subscales are often aggregated to create an overall ADHD scale factor total score. Individual items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = occasionally; 2 = often; 3 = very often). There is also a performance (impairment) subscale (n=7) used to determine whether a child would meet clinical criteria for a given disorder. The range of scores per factor are as follows: hyperactivity/impulsivity (27), inattention (27), oppositional behavior (21), conduct problems (45), anxiety/depression (21) ,and performance (24).
Change from baseline in severity of ADHD, ODD, CD, and ANX/DEP symptoms at home and in community at 6 months	6 months after caregiver baseline	To assess the severity of the child's behavioral and emotional problems, the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale will be completed by caregivers. The VADPRS includes 5 symptom severity subscales, each with a varying number of items: (hyperactivity/impulsivity (n=9), inattention (n=9), oppositional behavior (n=7), conduct problems (n=15), and anxiety/depression (n=7). The scores for the hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention subscales are often aggregated to create an overall ADHD scale factor total score. Individual items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = occasionally; 2 = often; 3 = very often). There is also a performance (impairment) subscale (n=7) used to determine whether a child would meet clinical criteria for a given disorder. The range of scores per factor are as follows: hyperactivity/impulsivity (27), inattention (27), oppositional behavior (21), conduct problems (45), anxiety/depression (21) ,and performance (24).
Change from baseline in severity of ADHD, ODD, CD, and ANX/DEP symptoms at home and in community at 12 months	12 months after caregiver baseline	To assess the severity of the child's behavioral and emotional problems, the Vanderbilt ADHD Diagnostic Rating Scale will be completed by caregivers. The VADPRS includes 5 symptom severity subscales, each with a varying number of items: (hyperactivity/impulsivity (n=9), inattention (n=9), oppositional behavior (n=7), conduct problems (n=15), and anxiety/depression (n=7). The scores for the hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention subscales are often aggregated to create an overall ADHD scale factor total score. Individual items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = occasionally; 2 = often; 3 = very often). There is also a performance (impairment) subscale (n=7) used to determine whether a child would meet clinical criteria for a given disorder. The range of scores per factor are as follows: hyperactivity/impulsivity (27), inattention (27), oppositional behavior (21), conduct problems (45), anxiety/depression (21) ,and performance (24).
Severity of ADHD, ODD/CD, and ANX/DEP symptoms at school	At teacher baseline	Paralleling the VADPRS, the VADTRS will be completed by teachers. This version includes 3 of the same subscales in the parent version -- hyperactivity/impulsivity (n=9), inattention (n=9), and anxiety/depression (n=7) -- but it also includes an aggregated oppositional/conduct scale (n=10 items). Scores for the hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention subscales are often aggregated to create an overall ADHD scale factor total score. Individual items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = occasionally; 2 = often; 3 = very often). There is also a performance subscale (n=8 items) that is used to determine whether a child would meet clinical criteria for a given disorder. The range of scores per factor are as follows: hyperactivity/impulsivity (27), inattention (27), oppositional/conduct problems (30), anxiety/depression (21) ,and performance (24). Practices will continue to separately request their own forms during services (e.g., for medication monitoring).
Change from baseline in severity of ADHD, ODD/CD, and ANX/DEP symptoms at school at 3 months	3 months after teacher baseline	Paralleling the VADPRS, the VADTRS will be completed by teachers. This version includes 3 of the same subscales in the parent version -- hyperactivity/impulsivity (n=9), inattention (n=9), and anxiety/depression (n=7) -- but it also includes an aggregated oppositional/conduct scale (n=10 items). Scores for the hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention subscales are often aggregated to create an overall ADHD scale factor total score. Individual items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = occasionally; 2 = often; 3 = very often). There is also a performance subscale (n=8 items) that is used to determine whether a child would meet clinical criteria for a given disorder. The range of scores per factor are as follows: hyperactivity/impulsivity (27), inattention (27), oppositional/conduct problems (30), anxiety/depression (21) ,and performance (24). Practices will continue to separately request their own forms during services (e.g., for medication monitoring).
Change from baseline in severity of ADHD, ODD/CD, and ANX/DEP symptoms at school at 6 months	6 months after teacher baseline	Paralleling the VADPRS, the VADTRS will be completed by teachers. This version includes 3 of the same subscales in the parent version -- hyperactivity/impulsivity (n=9), inattention (n=9), and anxiety/depression (n=7) -- but it also includes an aggregated oppositional/conduct scale (n=10 items). Scores for the hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention subscales are often aggregated to create an overall ADHD scale factor total score. Individual items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = occasionally; 2 = often; 3 = very often). There is also a performance subscale (n=8 items) that is used to determine whether a child would meet clinical criteria for a given disorder. The range of scores per factor are as follows: hyperactivity/impulsivity (27), inattention (27), oppositional/conduct problems (30), anxiety/depression (21) ,and performance (24). Practices will continue to separately request their own forms during services (e.g., for medication monitoring).
Change from baseline in severity of ADHD, ODD/CD, and ANX/DEP symptoms at school at 12 months	12 months after teacher baseline	Paralleling the VADPRS, the VADTRS will be completed by teachers. This version includes 3 of the same subscales in the parent version -- hyperactivity/impulsivity (n=9), inattention (n=9), and anxiety/depression (n=7) -- but it also includes an aggregated oppositional/conduct scale (n=10 items). Scores for the hyperactivity/impulsivity and inattention subscales are often aggregated to create an overall ADHD scale factor total score. Individual items are rated on a 4-point Likert scale (0 = never; 1 = occasionally; 2 = often; 3 = very often). There is also a performance subscale (n=8 items) that is used to determine whether a child would meet clinical criteria for a given disorder. The range of scores per factor are as follows: hyperactivity/impulsivity (27), inattention (27), oppositional/conduct problems (30), anxiety/depression (21) ,and performance (24). Practices will continue to separately request their own forms during services (e.g., for medication monitoring).
Pediatric Health Quality	At caregiver baseline	Caregivers will complete the Pediatric Quality of Life (PEDS-QL) to measure health-related quality of life which includes 4 subscales: health/physical status (n=8), emotional health (n=5), school health (n=5), and social health (n=5). All items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = never a problem; 1 = almost never a problem; 2 = sometimes a problem; 3 = often a problem; 4 = almost always a problem). These subscales have very good reliability and treatment validity and are sensitive to the DOCC EBP.
Change from baseline in Pediatric Health Quality at 3 months	6 months after caregiver baseline	Caregivers will complete the Pediatric Quality of Life (PEDS-QL) to measure health-related quality of life which includes 4 subscales: health/physical status (n=8), emotional health (n=5), school health (n=5), and social health (n=5). All items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = never a problem; 1 = almost never a problem; 2 = sometimes a problem; 3 = often a problem; 4 = almost always a problem). These subscales have very good reliability and treatment validity and are sensitive to the DOCC EBP.
Change from baseline in Pediatric Health Quality at 12 months	12 months after caregiver baseline	Caregivers will complete the Pediatric Quality of Life (PEDS-QL) to measure health-related quality of life which includes 4 subscales: health/physical status (n=8), emotional health (n=5), school health (n=5), and social health (n=5). All items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = never a problem; 1 = almost never a problem; 2 = sometimes a problem; 3 = often a problem; 4 = almost always a problem). These subscales have very good reliability and treatment validity and are sensitive to the DOCC EBP.
Professional perceptions of study experiences at 18 months	18 months after professional baseline	Professionals will be invited to participate in an 18-month qualitative interview after they complete their 18-month online assessment. The purpose of this research interview is to provide feedback about their experiences with different aspects of this study, such as: learning and using the DOCC intervention, working as a team, participating any facilitation calls, and completing our research tasks. The interview gives us unique information about their perspective on these topics that can help us extend what we can learn from their surveys and then modify or tailor any of these methods to better support feasibility and acceptability. All responses will be thematically coded and summarized for interpretation.

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

Drexel University; 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

University of Pittsburgh; 🇺🇸 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States