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Show A Needs Assessment to Evaluate Implementing a Relationship Enhancement Program for Couples Kristen Hoppe, BSN, RN; Brian Baucom, PhD; Caroline Stephens, PhD, RN, GNP-BC, FGSA, FAAN Key Findings • Only 1/3 of couples seeking treatment at a community mental health clinic actually receive therapy . • Lack of trained providers limits access to care, particularly when clinic only offers traditional couples therapy • Proposed Mindfulness-Based Relationship Enhancement (MBRE) group program that targets nondistressed couples is acceptable, appropriate, and feasible warranting implementation by future clinic trainees Background • Approximately 40 –50% of first marriages and 60% of second marriages end in divorce • The Utah 2019 divorce rate was 9.40%, the 7th highest in the country • Relationship interventions reduce stress and improve relationship satisfaction particularly among nondistressed couples however, lack there is a lack of evidence-based, affordable relationship programs for couples in Salt Lake City Methods Conduct a Kaizen-model driven needs assessment with an emphasis on clinic partner engagement consisting of four phases: 1. Assess the clinic via electronic health record data extraction, survey administration, and discussion group facilitation to evaluate the nature and effectiveness of current interventions Table 1: Characteristics of Couples Who Received Treatment from the Community Mental Health Clinic (N=4) Study Sample Characteristics Couple Sexual Orientation Heterosexual Race White/Caucasian Biracial Marital Status Married Monogamous partnership Unavailable Education High school diploma or some college Graduate/professional degree Unavailable 4. Obtain & analyze proposal outcome measures & feedback 2 (50) 2 (50) 2 (50) 1 (25) 1 (25) 1 (25) 2 (50) 1 (25) Majority of Couples Requesting Services at Community Mental Health Clinic, Not Treated or Do Not Continue Treatment September 2021-2022 (N=12) 1, 8% 8% 34% 58% • The majority of couples requesting services at the community mental health clinic did not receive treatment 4 (100) Table 2: Electronic Health Record Data Extraction Results 2. Appraise the evidence by conducting a literature search and consulting the content expert 3. Present the evidence to clinic partners via an educational PowerPoint; propose a relationship enhancement program N (%) Results Couples Treated n=4 Couples who requested services, not treated n=7 Couples who did not continue treatment n=1 • A lack of trained providers largely contributed to the inaccessibility of services • All clinic partners agreed or completely agreed that the proposal to implement an adapted version of MBRE, an evidence-based group program that captures nondistressed couples, was acceptable, appropriate, and feasible Conclusions • Opportunities exist to proactively target nondistressed couples at a community mental health clinic through relationship enhancement programs • Group programs like MBRE may prevent intimate partnerships from deteriorating and address barriers to treatment including the shortage of mental health providers and cost • The clinic's ongoing influx of interdisciplinary trainees allows for future implementation of the proposed MBRE program • Future projects should evaluate if implementing a group intervention like MBRE increases the number of couples who receive treatment at the community mental health clinic @uofunursing @utnurseresearch |
