The Impact of Family Financial Support on Parental Mental 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 mental health using the Kessler-6 emotional distress scale.

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 mental health using the Kessler-6 emotional distress scale as the outcome variable. 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 mental health using the Kessler-6 emotional distress scale.

Official Title
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The Impact of Family Financial Support on Parental Mental Health

Conditions
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Financial Coaching, Mental Disorders, Social Determinants, Medical-Financial Partnership, Toxic Stress

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Financial Coaching
* Behavioral: Access to Social Service Referrals


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Caregivers/Parents with one or more child dependents, income of any sort, and a tax identification number. Exclusion Criteria: Inability to partake in financial coaching due to physical limitations or primary language other than Spanish or English.
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 & Access to Services<br>Participants in this arm will receive monthly financial coaching and access to basic social service referrals until either one year, closure of all financial needs, or loss to follow up. | 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 Social Service Referrals<br>* Access to referrals for common social needs.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Access to Services<br>Participants in this arm will receive access to basic social service referrals until either one year, closure of all financial needs, or loss to follow up. | Behavioral: Access to Social Service Referrals<br>* Access to referrals for common social needs.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Mental Health | Mental health as assessed by the Kessler-6 scale of emotional distress | Up to one year (if possible) | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Financial Coaching, Mental Health, Social Determinants, Medical-Financial Partnership, Toxic Stress