Use of a Concurrent Treatment Design to Analyze the Effects of a Peer Review System in a Residential Setting

Abstract

An experiment was carried out in which the recording practices of individual case managers at a residential treatment facility were improved using feedback from the overnight therapists at the facility. The overnight therapists, who were not associated with the daytime management of the individual clients, conducted weekly reviews of the data that were compiled by case managers during the day. Four particular standards were observed across each case manager, and specific written feedback was delivered to the case manager who was responsible for compiling the data for each child. The written feedback referred to the presence and accuracy of particular details for each program, including introductory cover pages, labeled experimental conditions, operational definitions, and adequate interobserver agreement. The experiment analyzed and verified the feedback procedure through concurrent treatment of different elements across I I cases. The results suggested that significant changes in the recording practices of therapists can be accomplished through feedback generated by the night therapists of the agency.