Grant: Project Grant

CIHR proposes the nationwide Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR). This project will develop new person-oriented statistical methods for mental health program evaluation and study design, which is directly aligned with this SPOR strategy and serves to advance research in this field. We will develop new person-oriented statistical methods for multivariate longitudinal data, continuous event times from competing risks or recurrent events, and non-ignorable missing data. We will tackle the methodology problems under the general latent variable modeling framework and use computer simulations to examine how well these statistical tools work. These methods will be applied to several longitudinal studies of mental health prevention. The proposed person-oriented methods will accommodate continuous and discontinuous changes, as well as missing data, which will extend our capabilities to empirically assess person-oriented principles, individual specificity and inter-individual difference and intra-individual change. We will provide guidance for selecting an appropriate sample size for the design of use of person-oriented statistical methods in mental health prevention study. We will establish the criteria and guidelines of selection of person- and variable-oriented methods, and illustrate the importance of integrating the person-oriented and variable-oriented methods in health services research. This research will fill a critical gap in the person-oriented methodology and provide improved research tools for health services research. Innovative approaches to intervention efficacy, antecedent predictors, and construct stability will be of interest to all scholars who develop and evaluate interventions. Through working groups with partners, stakeholders, and decision makers, we will identify relevant findings and their implications and tailor KM products to meet the needs of diverse receptor communities, inside and outside Canada.