I8 – Benefitting from the Single Case Research Design: How Anyone Can Use It

Summary

This is a 60-minute oral presentation for the research and evaluation track. It reviews the distinct value of the single case research design before delving into various methods of using this research strategy across various real and hypothetical data sets. Because there is such rapid change in our healthcare system, healthcare and community stakeholders need feasible and accessible methods for analyzing the outcomes of programs and treatments including complex patients and those tapering off of opioids. Since there is a scarcity of research on how to influence the social determinants of health, the single case design uniquely offers the most immediate way to demonstrate positive change in an individual or system in a short amount of time. This means that community leaders or various healthcare and nonhealthcare agencies within a system could use these tools to measure their program or intervention. Likewise, the methods can be used by physicians or behavioral health providers at the clinic level. Finally, the author presents data on how this research methodology can be used at the system level to make programmatic decisions about meeting the needs of patient populations. Learners will ascertain information about how to conduct these analyses upon completing the session (e.g., the basics of analyzing trend, level and variability on linear charts; using reversal and withdrawal designs and conducting analyses on the standard celeration chart).