Clinic-Based Financial Coaching and Family Health and Development

The Effect of a Clinic-Based Financial Coaching on Health and Development

This study will examine the impact of clinic-based financial coaching on parent health-related quality of life and child development measures, as well as family social needs for families with young children receiving pediatric care at a primary care practice in the Los Angeles County safety net.

With an expert group of researchers, financial coaches, and implementation scientists, we will study the impact of clinic-based financial coaching on parent health-related quality of life, child developmental risk, and social needs.We will conduct a clinical randomized controlled trial of financial coaching for low-income families. Parents of infants in a large pediatric primary care safety-net clinic will receive either 1) financial coaching from trained coaches plus social needs screening and resource navigation at all well child visits (intervention) or 2) social needs screening and navigation alone (active control) and will be followed for five years. Aims include:

1a) Examine parent outcomes of overall health-related quality of life (primary parent outcome);

1b) Examine child outcomes of developmental risk scores (primary child outcome) and well-child visit adherence;

1c) Examine family social needs outcomes, including incidence of any food insecurity, housing instability, transportation or utilities interruptions (primary family outcome any one or more) and resource use; and financial metrics.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Parents/caregivers in families with children 4 months or under at enrollment receiving care at Harbor-UCLA medical center clinic.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cognitive impairment or not speaking English or Spanish.