What would help low-income families? Results from a North American survey of 2-1-1 helpline professionals.
Tess Thompson, Anne M Roux, Patricia L Kohl and 2 others
PMID 29788775WHAT IT FOUND
Helpline staff identified parenting, child health, and child care as top needs for low-income families.
While they felt comfortable screening for these, they reported inadequate community resources for child care and serious child problems, highlighting a gap between need and available support.
Key findings
01Parenting, child health and health care, and child care were the three most frequently selected priority needs for improving the lives of children in low-income families.
02Staff reported inadequate community resources for high-priority needs like finding quality, affordable child care (35% adequacy) and helping with serious child problems (39% adequacy).
03A large majority of staff felt comfortable or very comfortable proactively asking callers about parenting, child health, and child care needs.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study relies on the perceptions of helpline staff, which may not accurately reflect the actual needs of callers or the true availability of resources in the community. Respondents were self-selected, and those who completed the survey may differ systematically from those who did not. The survey did not differentiate needs by child age (e.g., infants vs. teenagers), which may mask important variations in priority. Close-ended questions may have prevented the capture of nuanced or unlisted needs.
Declared interests
The authors declare they have no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high comfort levels of helpline staff as evidence that patient care providers are equally comfortable or effective at addressing these needs. The study surveys social service staff, not clinicians, and their perceptions of resource adequacy may not match the reality of referral success rates.