The Cash and Counseling Demonstration and Evaluation: focus groups inform design of a consumer-directed cash option.
The purposes of the study were to explore consumer preferences for a cash option, to inform the ongoing CCDE survey and program design, and to identify the messages that the CCDE and other states should include when informing consumers about a cash option. The preference study consisted of 3 parts: 11 pre-survey focus groups, a telephone survey in each of the 4 participating states, and 16 post-survey focus groups. This article highlights unique results from pre- and post-survey focus groups. Focus group discussions were audiotaped and videotaped and transcribed. Transcripts were manually coded and text was clustered according to the moderator's guide questions and some new and recurrent themes that emerged. Overall, focus group participants, including elders, expressed positive feelings about the CCDE, especially about having a role in hiring workers and determining the workers' schedules and responsibilities. Focus groups provided important lessons about features to highlight when presenting program information to potential consumers and their families. Program planners must also bear in mind consumer concerns, especially considering that less than 10% of eligible Medicaid consumers volunteered for the cash option. These findings will be useful in guiding other states as they develop new cash and counseling programs, especially those in the current Cash and Counseling replication project.
Simon-Rusinowitz
Lori
L
Cash and Counseling, University of Maryland Center on Aging, College Park 20742, USA. LASR@umd.edu
Mahoney
Kevin J
KJ
Marks
Lori N
LN
Zacharias
B Lee
BL
Loughlin
Dawn M
DM
D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000191:economics*; D003376:Counseling; D003625:Data Collection; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D005376:Financial Management / Q000379:methods*; D017144:Focus Groups; D006704:Homemaker Services / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D010865:Pilot Projects; D016730:Program Development; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce