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BEHAVIORAL COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY: ENCOURAGING LOW‐INCOME PARENTS TO SEEK DENTAL CARE FOR THEIR CHILDREN 1
Author(s) -
Reiss Maxine L.,
Piotrowski William D.,
Bailey Jon S.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1976.9-387
Subject(s) - incentive , dental care , low income , medicine , psychology , family medicine , socioeconomics , sociology , economics , microeconomics
The present study examined the effectiveness and cost efficiency of three different techniques to encourage low‐income rural parents to seek dental care for their children. The families of 51 children who needed immediate dental care (determined by dental screening at a local school) were placed into three matched groups and randomly assigned to the treatment conditions: One Prompt (Note Only), Three Prompt (Note, Telephone Contact, Home Visit), and One Prompt plus $5 Incentive. The Three Prompt and One Prompt plus $5 Incentive were significantly more effective in initiating dental visits than the Note‐Only procedure. Not only was the One Prompt plus $5 Incentive technique effective in producing a slightly larger percentage of initial dental visits compared to the Three‐Prompt technique, it also produced a significantly larger number of followup visits. Furthermore, the cost‐effectiveness analysis showed the Incentive condition to be less costly than the Three‐Prompt condition in encouraging initial dental visits.