Working Toward Wellness

Telephone Care Management for Medicaid Recipients with Depression, 36 Months After Random Assignment

By MDRC

December 6, 2011

Summary

This report examines a telephone care management program called Working Toward Wellness, which served depressed parents receiving Medicaid in Rhode Island. The 1-year program, which was active from 2004 to 2006, involved clinicians calling participants and encouraging them to seek out and sustain needed mental health care. Readers will learn about the intervention’s impact and discover if these parents were still benefiting from the program 2 years later.

Table of Contents

Key Takeaway

The Working Toward Wellness program was effective…until the clinicians stopped calling

The telephone-based program was rooted in a simple premise: If you encourage parents to seek treatment and alleviate their depression, they will be more likely to return to work or become more productive in their current jobs. This study, which revisits program participants 2 years post-intervention, shows how this simple premise didn’t pan out.

Findings & Stats

Statements & Quotations