Financial Coaching, Medical-Financial Partnership, Mental Disorders, Social Determinants, Toxic Stress
Conditions
Keywords
Financial Coaching, Mental Health, Social Determinants, Medical-Financial Partnership, Toxic Stress
Brief summary
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 mental health using the Kessler-6 emotional distress scale.
Detailed description
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 mental health using the Kessler-6 emotional distress scale as the outcome variable. 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 mental health using the Kessler-6 emotional distress scale.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFinancial Coaching
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.
BEHAVIORALAccess to Social Service Referrals
Access to referrals for common social needs.
Sponsors
University of California, Los Angeles
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Caregivers/Parents with one or more child dependents, income of any sort, and a tax identification number.
Exclusion criteria
* Inability to partake in financial coaching due to physical limitations or primary language other than Spanish or English.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mental Health | Up to one year (if possible) | Mental health as assessed by the Kessler-6 scale of emotional distress |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed