Prevention Research Center Research

The IDEAS collaborative project was a multi-institutional (primarily local universities), applied research collaborative funded by the Colorado Health Foundation to provide data, research, and evaluation supports for a statewide system supporting comprehensive school health in Colorado.

This nine-month contract with the Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Child Maltreatment Prevention was to write a white paper on using a dual-capacity building approach to effect systems changes to prevent child maltreatment and promote school readiness. CDHE plans to use the white paper to guide their funding priorities and initiatives.

Equipt focused on behavioral health integration in primary care through a partnership between CO Kaiser Permanente, Equipt, LLC/the Neurodevelopment Center of Colorado, and the PRC.  A pilot study across two clinics examined an innovative approach to addressing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in primary care using Equipt digital behavior therapy software. The study was designed to provide information regarding the feasibility and acceptability of the Equipt digital behavior support tool as well as evidence of potential for efficacy of the tool in supporting families of children with ADHD diagnosed in pediatric care.  This pilot study was used to continue partnership and further testing of the Equipt digital behavior support tool for helping families in different service delivery contexts.

During the fall semester of 2015, Grit Digital Health partnered with Colorado State University to conduct a mixed method pilot study of the feasibility and acceptability of a web-based interactive portal, named YOU. It was designed to help students gain greater self-awareness about their personal strengths and overall emotional health, and to connect students to campus resources in a timely, confidential, and user-friendly way. The design of the study provided approximately 1500 select CSU students with open access to use of the portal for approximately eight weeks during the Fall 2015 semester. All students who had access to the portal were invited to complete a brief survey about their experiences using the portal. Just over 200 students completed the online survey.

In addition, three focus groups were held to gather additional feedback and student opinions about the YOU portal. 91% of students reported being satisfied with the YOU portal and 86% of students felt the YOU portal was useful for them. A majority of students felt the YOU portal was engaging and easy to understand, liked the format, and thought the site was easy to navigate.

Funder: Contract with Grit Digital Health
Center Theme: Healthy Lifestyles
Lead Investigators: Doug Coatsworth, HDFS, and Melissa George, HDFS

The MSFP study examined the efficacy of an adapted version of the Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14. The Mindfulness-enhanced Strengthening Families Program 10-14 blended mindfulness activities for parents into the original SFP 10-14 program. The study recruited 432 families from three communities in central Pennsylvania and randomly assigned them to one of three conditions: A) MSFP, B) SFP 10-14, C) Home study control condition. Results showed MSFP was as effective as SFP 10-14 in improving multiple dimensions of parenting, including interpersonal mindfulness in parenting, parent-youth relationship quality, youth behavior management, and parent well-being, according to both parent and youth reports at both post-intervention and one-year follow-up. This study also found that in some areas MSFP boosted and better sustained the effects of SFP 10-14, especially for fathers.