Patient Profiles of 1,000 Clients Provide "Social Work CAT Scan"

Whom do we Serve? Are there "clusters" of case types in our patient population? Are we seeing more severe levels of psychopathology and psychosocial distress than we have in the past?

The Patient Profile Study, now underway, will begin to answer those questions. Data collection on 1,000 cases being seen by the Madeleine Borg Community Services (MBCS) is nearing completion. Drs. Robert Abramovits, JBFCS Chief Psychiatrist and Bruce Grellong, JBFCS Chief Psychologist are acting as consultants for this major collaborative effort. Morris Black, C.S.W., Director of Community Services, is coordinating the efforts of field staff. Dozens of clinicians, recognizing the clinical and practical potential of the study, are completing research instruments. One worker said, after filling out the forms, "it was actually kind of fun!".

Essential design and sampling data are being provided by Steven Cohen, Director of Quality Assurance, George Nashak, Director of Operations Analysis, and Dan Rutberg, Director of management Information System. Mark Mattaini, A.C.S.W., Principal Investigator, has said that a preliminary report of study findings will be available this spring, with full results by fall.

Clinically, the study will address questions like those above, and provide direction for staff training and program planning. The data will also be used to develop a system for computer visualization of clinical cases. (a sort of "social work CAT scan"). Data, which are confidential and not identifiable by client, will remain available for ongoing clinical research purposes over the next several years.

The results will have important administrative and policy implications as well, for long-range planning and documenting the level of patient dysfunction seen, and increasingly crucial consideration for maintaining funding.