Thank you
As the SPARK Project draws to a close, we want to express our profound gratitude for your invaluable partnership and genuine kindness. It's been a pleasure collaborating with the SPARK providers, families, and clinic leaders, collectively working to enhance our understanding of how we can better serve our clients. We understand that research can be challenging in community-based settings, but you welcomed us and our team and were open minded about the SPARK initiative.
Our goals are very similar – we want to make sure that all children and families have equitable access to the best possible care. We warmly invite you to stay connected and make use of the SPARK toolkit. All clinicians who participated in the project will have free access to SPARK, indefinitely. Also, thanks to a new Duke Endowment initiative, all youth-serving agencies in North and South Carolina will have free access to SPARK in the coming months and years. Our team is always available to address any questions you may have.
We encourage you to continue reading to discover the impactful difference your contributions have made.
Once again, our sincere thanks for the significant time and dedication you gave to the SPARK Project.
Ken Ruggiero, PhD
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Highlights and Results
We are thrilled to share some exciting news with you! Recently, The Duke Endowment funded an initiative that will allow us to make SPARK freely available in all youth-serving clinics in the Carolinas. Our hope is that this will be a useful resource to you as you aim to elevate the quality of mental health care available to trauma-affected youth and families. Stay tuned for more details on how this development will shape the future of our collaborative efforts.
We also will continue to communicate with you about results of the SPARK project. Because it was such a big multi-site research project, we have spent the past few months preparing the data to answer our big questions. When we know the answers, we will keep you informed. The major questions we’re asking include:
- Did SPARK help clinicians stay on protocol?
- Did SPARK help children stay more engaged in treatment?
- Was SPARK associated with better child outcomes in treatment?
- What components of SPARK were used most by clinicians?
- Did newer clinicians use SPARK differently than more experienced clinicians?
- Did SPARK help to reduce feelings of burnout among clinicians?
All of these are important questions. There are many more that we will sort through as well. We can answer them because of your participation in the study. Thank you!
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Dear Colleagues,
First, let me express my sincere appreciation to each of you for all that you do. It is because of providers like you that we can work together to find better ways to give great care to families that need it. We are excited to report we’ve consented over 200 families, 197 providers, and we are in 32 clinics across South Carolina, North Carolina, and Florida.
Our current situation with COVID- 19 is unprecedented, but we will continue to move forward and work together. We are here to support you as you continue to work from home or transition back into your offices.
We want you to know that the SPARK team cares about you, your families, and the clients we serve. We are committed to building a strong, long-lasting relationship with your organization, well beyond the scope of this project. Feel free to reach out to our team for support. We will get through this together.
Best,
Ken Ruggiero, PhD
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Booster Trainings Available
Has it been a while since you’ve referred a client to SPARK? Would it be helpful to have a reminder on how to use the SPARK toolkit, how to record and upload session recordings, or how to use SPARK toolkit with a telehealth platform with your clients? We can help! Our team is available for booster training sessions to answer all of your questions! Talk to your site champion or contact us directly to schedule a virtual booster session for you and other providers. You can reach us at sparkprogram@musc.edu.
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Hello, from Gabriela
Gabriela has been a SPARK family interviewer for two years. She is a native of South Carolina and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelors in Psychology. Gabriela has been instrumental in providing support to our Spanish speaking families. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, going to the beach, and hanging out with her dog, Toby.
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