Testing a Measurement Feedback App to Improve Data Quality, Supervision & Outcomes in Behavioral Health

RCT of a Measurement Feedback App to Improve Data Quality, Supervision & Outcomes in Behavioral Health

The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether a smartphone-based data collection and feedback application ("Footsteps") improves the quality of behavioral data collected by one-to-one aides and leads to better youth mental health outcomes in school-aged youth (ages 4-17) who receive one-to-one support in schools.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does the Footsteps app improve aides' data collection quality (i.e., consistency, timeliness, and completeness)?
2. Does Footsteps use lead to improved youth behavioral health outcomes (e.g., SDQ, YTP scores)?
3. Does Footsteps improve communication and supervision processes between aides and clinical supervisors?

Researchers will compare aides using Footsteps to those using a "data collection only" control app to see if Footsteps leads to higher quality data collection, enhanced supervisory communication, and better youth outcomes.

Participants will:

• Use either Footsteps or a control app to record de-identified data on one client's behaviors and skills over 12 weeks
• Complete biweekly online surveys about data collection experiences, youth progress, and aide-supervisor communication
• Participate in a virtual intake and post-trial meeting
• (For a subset) Participate in a 30-45 minute qualitative interview about their experience using the app

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aides must be working with at least one client in school who meets the following criteria: 1) between 3-17 years, 2) has a diagnosis associated with a challenging behavior (e.g., autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder) as indicated on their treatment plan, and 3) receiving 1:1 aide support.
• Supervisors must be employed by a community behavior health agency and supervise a participating aide. The investigators will recruit supervisors in dyads and not triads (i.e., no supervisors with two [or more] aides) to ensure there are 30 supervisor-aide dyads in total).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Aides who participated in the pilot trial of the Footsteps will be excluded from participating to recruit a sample naïve to Footsteps and the control app.