 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Joseph P. Morrissey, PhD1, Kathleen C. Thomas, MPH, PhD1, Elizabeth Jackson, PhD2, Robert A. McWilliam, PhD3, and Carolyn McLaurin, MSW, RN2. (1) Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 101 Conner Dr. Ste.302, Willowcrest Bldg., CB#3386, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3386, 919-966-5829, joe_morrissey@unc.edu, (2) Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 101 Conner Dr. Ste. 302, Willowcrest Bldg. CB #3386, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3386, (3) Department of Pediatrics, Division of Child Development, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Suite 426, Medical Center South, 2100 Pierce Avenue, Nashville, TN 37232-3573
The field of autism services is so broad that it is currently difficult to assess the scope of service use, expenditures, and sources of payments for the care and treatment of children with autism. We present a conceptual framework for identifying the formal and informal services accessed by families with autistic children and preliminary findings from a telephone survey of family use and expenditures for autism services, access to care, and satisfaction/concerns with the system of care and financing. The survey was fielded in North Carolina in mid-2003 with a sample of families with an autistic child (N= 480) in one of three age groups (less than 3 years, 3-5 years, and 6-8 years). The sample was designed to capture variations in the geographic, socioeconomic, and diagnostic distribution of the target population. Group differentials in the range of service use (medical, educational, and behavioral treatments, as well as use of complementary and alternative treatments), out-of-pocket vs. subsidized payments, and formal vs. informal service use, will be presented. Findings that focus on differences in the breadth and depth of service use by family sociodemographics highlight weaknesses and gaps in the coordination and continuum of care for autistic children and their families. Results that address how family responsibility for paying for care varies by choice of treatment and breadth of services raise important policy issues about equitable financing both within the population of families with an autistic child and between such families and those with children with other special health care needs.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.