Thesis Title: Examining the Role of Patient Provider Race Concordance in Implementation Outcomes of SafeCare

Student Concentration: Health Promotion & Behavior

Thesis Chair: Dr. Daniel Whitaker

Thesis Abstract: 

BACKGROUND: Behavioral parenting training (BPT) interventions serve as successful tools in improving client relationships by directly impacting the parents’ knowledge, skills, beliefs, and behaviors. Although programs such as Triple P and SafeCare have shown success, BPT interventions tend to encounter issues in parent engagement to support intervention outcomes. Parents’ engagement in parenting programs is determined by many factors, including the extent to which they find their provider culturally competent.

PURPOSE: This study intends to understand if racial concordance between the provider and the client affects SafeCare implementation outcomes, such as completion, satisfaction, and skill acquisition. By examining these outcomes, this study will provide valuable information into a previously proposed solution to retention in BPT programs for Black clients. 

METHODS: This analysis examined 8300 clients receiving SafeCare. Chi-square and analysis of variance were used to determine how racial concordance and client race impact SafeCare completion, the number of SafeCare sessions completed, client satisfaction, and skill mastery of each module based on pre- and post- evaluations.

RESULTS: This study found that the interaction between racial concordance and client race was significant in the number of SafeCare sessions completed (F (1, 8296) = 4.76, p = 0.03), client satisfaction (F (1, 3642) = 17.93, p = <0.001), and skill mastery (Health Module: F (1, 4837) = 25.86, p = <0.001; PCI or PII Module: F (1, 3839) = 7.71, p = 0.01; Safety Module: F (1, 3127) = 20.21, p = <0.001). Furthermore, White clients in racially concordant delivery were more likely to complete SafeCare (χ² (1) = 13.20, p = .003).