In the course project assignments of the past four weeks, you have written on various topics dealing with trends and issues in the behavioral healthcare system. Those weekly project assignments can be used as references for writing your final research paper.

In addition, read and incorporate the following articles from the EBSCO host database into your paper:

• Deakin, A. (2004, November). Finding your organization’s hidden        treasure. Behavioral Health Management, 24(6), 27-29.
• Droppa, D., & Luczak, R. (2004, January). Collaboration, technology,
  and outcomes—A recipe to improve service delivery.
  Behavioral Health Management, 24(1), 41-44.

To complete the research paper, you will need to include an introduction and conclusion section as well as a title page and reference section. The title of the research paper will be the Current Issues in the Behavioral Healthcare System.

Your final paper is due for submission. The paper should adhere to the following guidelines:

• The length of the paper should be eight to ten double-spaced pages (not including the title and reference pages).
• The main sections should have a:
  • Title page
  • Introduction
  • Body of the paper (with subheadings)
  • Conclusion
  • Reference page(s)
• The paper must use the APA format for citing sources and references.

Your final paper introduction (one page) should include the following points:

• An overview of the research paper
• The purpose or objective of the research paper

The body of the paper (five to six pages) should address each of the following topics using information learned in the course, in combination with outside references:

• Based on your previous assignments and review of the literature, what are some of the major issues faced by today’s behavioral healthcare system? How have the current and future trends that are evolving in the industry addressed some of those issues?
• Do you think there is a difference between the changing trends taking place in the private sector and that of public behavioral healthcare inpatient facilities? Based on your understanding about behavioral health services and the populations being served by them, do you agree that both private and public organizations are able to provide the necessary clinical services? Provide a rationale in support of your response.
• In behavioral healthcare, outcomes are the established norm for measuring the success or lack of services. What are some of the major challenges in collecting the data needed to support and report behavioral health outcomes? Provide a rationale for your response.
• Quality of care and services is an important part of an outcome-based strategy. The objective behind maintaining and improving quality is to provide competent and efficient services to consumers. In your opinion, do the current regulatory and accreditation standards for the behavioral health industry help to meet that objective? How?

Your conclusion (one to two pages) should include the following points:

• What conclusions can you draw from your research that would demonstrate the role played by behavioral health in the healthcare industry?
• What changes would you like to bring to today’s behavioral healthcare system in order to resolve the current issues identified?
• Based on your literature review, if you were asked to conduct a formal research project on any of the topics discussed in the research paper, what would your choice be and why?

This Week: Submit Draft of an Abbreviated Mixed Methods Research Plan

To prepare for this Application, first focus on the following instructions:

• Review Chapter 10 in the course text, Research Design, the “Trustworthiness” and “Threats to Internal Validity” handouts, and the “Mixed Methods: Examples” media segment.
• Review the article “On Becoming a Pragmatic Researcher: The Importance of Combining Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methodologies.”
• Consult Table 10.1 (p. 205) in the course text, Research Design, to guide you in polishing your abbreviated mixed methods research plan.

Next, ask yourself the following questions:

• What are your research questions? To what extent can you test them? How would you justify the viability of your questions?
• What are your hypotheses? How would you test them?
• Why would this design be the most appropriate for answering the research questions? Conversely, why would quantitative or qualitative on their own not be appropriate?
  • For a mixed methods design, which design is the primary one? Why is that appropriate?
• What approach would you select for this study (experimental, survey, ethnography, grounded theory, etc.)? Why is that approach the most appropriate one for answering the research questions?
• What theoretical framework or perspective would you use?
• What is your target population? How would you identify and recruit participants? What factors would contribute to determining appropriate sample size? You will not need to calculate sample size for this assignment.
• If appropriate for your plan, what instruments might you need?
• What data collection procedures might you use? Why would those be the most appropriate methods to use? How would that data help to answer your research question(s)/hypotheses?
• How would you ensure quality and reliability of data?
• What are threats to validity? How might you mitigate them?
• How might you analyze the data?
• What are the ethical considerations related to the plan?

The assignment:

• Craft a 2- to 3-page paper in which you do the following:
• • Provide an introduction.
  • Provide a purpose statement.
  • Provide viable research questions/hypotheses.
  • Generate a written research plan that addresses the above questions.