Table 2.
Summary of assessment tools selected for the study
| Instrument | Informant(s) | Key construct | Subscales | Measurement time(s)a |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Description of participant sample | ||||
| Customized ACCESS OM sociodemographic questionnaire | Youth; Clinician; Administrative records | Sociodemographic characteristics | None | Intake, Months 3, 6, 9, 12 and 34/end of services |
| Custom checklist | Youth, Clinician | Presenting concerns | None | Intake |
| GAIN-SSx | Clinician-administered youth report | Clinical symptoms | Internalising problems, externalizing problems, substance use disorders, crime/violence | Intake, Months 3, 12 and 24/end of services |
| Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS): Screenerx | Clinician | Suicidal ideation and behavior over past month plus one item re past suicidal behavior | None | Intake, Months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24/end of services |
| Service-level improvements | ||||
| Customized services forms | Clinician; Administrative records | Number of referrals (Hyp. 1); Number offered evaluation 72 h after referral request (Hyp 2); Number offered appropriate treatment within 30 days after completion of initial evaluation (Hyp. 3) | None | Intake, Month 1; Services forms repeated at months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 or at end of services to document services needed and offered |
| CCHS-MH 2012 questions related to services sought and received | Clinician-interview with youth and/or family/carer, plus any available records | Number of help-seeking contacts made for problems with mental health/substance use and whether or not services were received in previous 12 months (Hyp. 4) | None; can examine type of contacts (formal, informal, etc.) | Intake |
| Clinical improvements | ||||
| Kessler-10 Psychological Distress Scale (K-10) | Youth | Unidimensional factor of distress as being linked to mental ill-health and varied diagnoses (Hyp. 5) | Cut-offs based on overall score (e.g., mild distress) | Intake, Months 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 |
| Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI)x | Clinician | Clinician’s rating of severity of youth’s presenting problem over time (Hyp. 5) | None | Intake, Months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24/end of services |
| Self-rated health and self-rated mental health (SRH-MH) | Youth | Self-assessment of health and mental health, each on a single 5-item Likert scale (Hyp. 5) | None | Intake, Months 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 |
| Functional improvements | ||||
| Social and Occupational Functioning Assessment Scale (SOFAS)x | Clinician | Social and vocational functioning on a 0 to 100 scale (Hyp. 5) | None | Intake, Months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24/end of services |
| Subjective/Well-being improvements | ||||
| Goals tool inspired by the Goals-based Outcome (GBO) tool*x | Youth | Self-rated progress on 3 chosen goals (Hyp. 5) | None | Intake, Months 3, 6, 12 and 24/end of services |
| Outcome Rating Scale (ORS)x | Youth | Overall outcome/ functioning/ well-being (Hyp. 5) | None; Items related to overall; individual; interpersonal; and social outcomes can be examined separately | Intake, Months 6, 12 and 24/end of services |
| World Health Organisation Quality of Life – Brief (WHOQOL)* | Youth | Self-assessment of quality of life (Hyp.5) | Four domains: physical health, psychological health, social relationships, and environment | Intake, Months 6, 12 and 24/end of services |
| Service experiences | ||||
| OPOCx | Youth, family | Satisfaction (Hyp. 6) | Access to service, services provided, participation/ rights, therapists/support workers/staff, environment, discharge, recovery outcome, service quality | Months 1, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24/end of services |
| Session Rating Scale (SRS)x | Youth | Working Alliance (Hyp. 6) | None; Items related to relationship; goals or topic; approach or method; and overall can be examined separately | Intake, Months 6, 12 and 24/end of services |
| Youth Efficacy/Empowerment Scale (YES)* | Youth | Empowerment | Self, services, system | Intake, Months 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24/end of services |
Hyp. = Hypothesis; OPOC = Ontario Perception of Care tool; GAIN-SS = Global Appraisal of Individual Needs –Short Screener
*Completed at select sites and not all ACCESS Open Minds sites
aAs youth presenting with different concerns may need varying lengths of follow-up, the assessment protocol is accordingly applied. For example, if the young person receives a follow-up at an ACCESS Open Minds site for 6 months, the SOFAS will be administered at Intake, Month 1, Month 3 and Month 6. However, if they receive follow-up for just 1 month, the SOFAS will only be administered at Intake and Month 1
XIrrespective of length of follow-up, the following measures are to be administered at the end of follow-up: Demographic Information; SRS; YES; OPOC; WHOQOL; Services Form; SOFAS; CGI; C-SSRS; GAIN-SS; GBO-inspired tool