The Impact of Family Financial Support on Child Health

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The investigators have partnered with financial coaching organizations to establish what the investigators have termed a Medical-Financial Partnership (MFP) that offers financial coaching to improve financial and mental health.The investigators will evaluate the MFP's impact on child overall health rating.

Detailed Description
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Financial coaching is a new tool in the field of community development, but it has already demonstrated significant financial impact in a number of studies, including one randomized trial conducted by the Urban Institute. Financial coaching improves participant financial literacy, budgeting, saving for financial emergencies, and debt level. The investigators' project will help clinicians and the field of community economic development understand health and well-being through a new economic lens and assess the health-related impacts of the emerging field of financial coaching. The investigators have partnered with financial coaching organizations to establish what they have termed a Medical-Financial Partnership (MFP) that offers financial coaching to improve financial and mental health. The investigators will evaluate the MFP's impact on parent-rated child overall health on a 5 point likert scale (Excellent to Poor). Community-based participants will be recruited from South Los Angeles and randomized to receive either monthly financial coaching plus access to referral for social services (intervention) or access to referral for social services alone (control). Inclusion criteria include having dependents under age 18, having some form of income, and having a tax identification number (social security number or Individual Tax Identification Number). Participants will be surveyed quarterly regarding their parent-rated child overall health on a 5 point likert scale (Excellent to Poor).

Conditions
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Child Overall Health Related Quality of Life

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Financial Coaching
* Behavioral: Access to Referral to Social Services


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Participants will include caregivers and parents with one or more dependent children, some form of income, and a tax identification number. Exclusion Criteria: Inability to take part in financial coaching or primary language other than English or Spanish.
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Financial Coaching & Social Services Referral<br>Enrollment in one-to-one financial coaching intervention to support savings, income, and credit while reducing debt using available tools in the community development field. | Behavioral: Financial Coaching<br>* Enrollment in one-to-one financial coaching intervention to support savings, income, and credit while reducing debt using available tools in the community development field.<br>Behavioral: Access to Referral to Social Services<br> <br> |
| Active Comparator: Access to Referrals to Social Services<br>Enrollment provides access to referrals to social services to meet basic needs. | Behavioral: Access to Referral to Social Services<br> <br> |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Parent-Rated Child Overall Health | Parent-rated overall child health (Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor) assessed using a single-item questionnaire. The single item used to assess this outcome is the first item in the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System child health related quality of life questionnaire. | Up to One Year | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Child Quality of Life, Financial Coaching, Socioeconomic Status, Social Determinants of Health