A Randomized Trial of Effects of Parent Mentors on Insuring Minority Children

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center329 enrolled

Overview

The Kids' HELP trial rigorously documented that a Parent Mentor intervention results in multiple benefits: more children are insured faster, children's access to healthcare and parental satisfaction improve, quality of well-child care is enhanced, thousands of dollars are saved per child, jobs are created, disparities are eliminated, and the intervention potentially could save our nation billions of dollars.

Background: Six million US children are uninsured, despite two-thirds being eligible for Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and minority children are at especially high risk. The most effective way to insure uninsured children, however, is unclear. Methods: We conducted a randomized trial of the effects of parent mentors (PMs) on insuring uninsured minority children. PMs were experienced parents with \>=1 Medicaid/CHIP-covered child who received 2 days of training, then assisted families for 1 year with insurance applications, retaining coverage, medical homes, and social needs; controls received traditional Medicaid/CHIP outreach. The primary outcome was obtaining insurance 1 year post-enrollment.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

329

Conditions

Uninsured Children Eligible for Medicaid or CHIP

Interventions

Parent MentorsBEHAVIORAL

After random assignment to the Parent Mentor group, minority low-income parents of Medicaid/CHIP eligible children met with Parent Mentors to receive instruction and help on completing, submitting applications for, and maintaining Medicaid/CHIP coverage for their child.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMax age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: 1. The parent/guardian is a primary caretaker of a least one child 0-18 years old who currently has no health insurance 2. The parent/guardian self-identifies the uninsured child as Hispanic/Latino, African-American/Black, or both 3. The uninsured child is eligible for either Medicaid or CHIP 4. The parent/guardian is willing to be contacted monthly by telephone, or in the form of a home visit (if no functioning telephone is present in the household).

Locations (2)

Connecticut Children's Medical Center

Hartford, Connecticut, United States

UT Southwestern

Dallas, Texas, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Number of Children With Health Insurance

A study child is considered insured once official written notification of insurance is confirmed, either through an electronic or hard copy of the state coverage letter, or via verification from the Texas Health and Human Services Center.

Time frame: One year after enrollment

Secondary Outcomes

Number of Days From Study Enrollment to Obtaining Coverage

Zero time (the point at which the maneuver is imposed) is the data and time of study enrollment. Occurrence of the main outcome event is the date and time of official notification that the child is insured.

Time frame: One year after enrollment

Parental Satisfaction With the Process of Obtaining Coverage for Child

Parental satisfaction is assessed both using a five-point Likert-scale and open-ended questions

Time frame: One year after enrollment

Intervention Cost-Effectiveness Ratio (ICER)

The difference in total costs between the intervention group and controls

Time frame: One year after enrollment

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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