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 family economic strain and parental stress.
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 parental strain and stress. 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 economic strain using the Family Economic Strain Scale and their individual stress using the Parenting Stress Index.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
150
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.
LIFT-LA
Los Angeles, California, United States
Family Economic Strain
Parents will be asked to assess the degree to which their economic circumstances impact their family functioning using the Family Economic Strain Scale
Time frame: Up to one year (if possible)
Parenting Stress
Parents will be asked to quantify their parenting stress using the Parenting Stress Index
Time frame: Up to one year (if possible)
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