The Effects of Prompts on Minority Children's Screening Attendance at a Community Mental Health Center

This study examined the impact of prompts upon the screening attendence rate at a children's community mental health center (CMHC) serving lower socioeconomic urban minority clients. Subjects (274 children under age 18 and their adult caretakers who contacted the CMHC for screening appointments) were assigned to one of three conditions: (a) a phone prompt one day before the appointment, (b) a letter prompt one to two days before the appointment, and (c) a no-intervention control group. Both phone and letter prompts produced significantly greater attendance than the no-intervention condition. The phone prompt group evidenced a tendency toward greater attendance than the letter prompt group. A cost analysis indicated that the phone prompt generated more net revenue than the other two conditions and had a lower total cost and per subject than the conditon. The data suggest that prompts can be effectively used by mental health facilities to engage minority clients in the intial phase of the treament process.