Justification

SAMHSA Agency-Wide Strategic Communications Plan

Key Informant Interviews

A. Product/Activity to be Assessed

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Office of Communications (OC), is seeking Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approval to conduct key informant interviews with a wide variety of stakeholders and organizations in the behavioral health field to assess SAMHSA’s communication activities and guide revision of the agency-wide strategic communications plan. This request is for a second wave of key Informant Interviews that were conducted in 2013 after receiving OMB approval in May 2013. This wave will use the same methodology and discussion guide as 2013; a few questions listed below were added to the discussion guide (as they appear in the interview guide):

2. Behavioral Health and Your Organization

1. What do you see as greatest areas of need when it comes to behavioral health issues? Why? Is anyone addressing them?

2. What do you see as missing from these efforts?

4. Familiarity and Satisfaction with SAMHSA Products and Communications

1. If not mentioned in 3b: Are you familiar with SAMHSA?

2. IF YES and if SAMHSA is mentioned in 3b, ASK: When I say “SAMHSA” what words, phrase or adjectives come to mind? Why? What makes you say that?

3. How would you describe the work that SAMHSA does?

4. What is your opinion regarding effectiveness of communication programs developed by SAMHSA? Why?

5. What efforts stand out in your mind? Why? What do you see as areas for improvement? Why?

6. Close/Thank you

   2. If you could deliver one message to the organization’s leadership, what would it be?

B. Brief Statement of Objectives

The objective of the key informant interviews is to learn how SAMHSA can enhance its communications to the field. Data gathered from the interviews will document interviewees’ knowledge about, attitudes toward, and satisfaction with SAMHSA’s current communications practices, and help formulate the agency’s communications priorities for the next three years, including:

• topics about which SAMHSA will communicate;

• audiences it wishes to reach for those topics; and

• the most effective tactics and channels to communicate with each audience, e.g., formats, delivery options, and promotional activities.

The effort is being overseen by the Director of the SAMHSA Office of Communications. A cross-section of 79 key organizations within each of four audience segments will be interviewed:

• Service Providers

• Public and Influencers

• Government and Policy Makers

• Business, Insurers, and Quality

The findings of the key informant interviews will be analyzed and a report submitted to the Office of Communications for review and comment. The final report will be incorporated into a broader document that includes media and environmental scans. This document will inform SAMHSA’s efforts to establish broad consensus on agency communications goals and objectives for the next three years.

C. Overview of Methods to Collect the Information

Data collection method.

The key informant interviews will be conducted via telephone.

Method for identifying respondents.

Respondents will be drawn from a list of proposed organizations around the country that represent traditional and nontraditional viewpoints grouped into four major categories – Service Providers, Government and Policy Makers, Public and Influencers, and Business, Insurers and Quality Groups. The list consists of organizations that were interviewed in the first wave (adjusted for organizations that no longer exist) and organizations subsequently added to SAMHSA’s stakeholder list. The list of proposed organizations (Attachment 1) has been reviewed and approved by the SAMHSA Office of Communications.

General criteria for selection of organizations included:

• Balance among the four audience quadrants and categories within quadrants

• Incorporation of SAMHSA’s essential stakeholder organizations and nontraditional audiences

• Inclusion of both mental health and substance use organizations

• Acknowledgement of SAMHSA’s Strategic Initiatives and programs

• Representation of diverse populations

Top criteria for final selection of 79 organizations included:

• Inclusion of organizations that are interacting with SAMHSA for the first time or with greater access to SAMHSA information or seeking behavioral health information.

• Inclusion of organizations that focus on key issues facing SAMHSA in the next two to four years including changes in the behavior health landscape that have occurred since the last survey was conducted in 2013 as well as the SAMHSA Strategic Initiatives

• 46 organizations were carried over from the research conducted in 2013 and 44 organizations are included this time around to reflect SAMHSA’s key stakeholder organizations at the request of SAMHSA OC.

Interview candidates within the proposed organizations will be identified based on their leadership role and involvement with behavioral health issues. Upon OMB approval, SAMHSA will send a letter/email (Attachment 2) to the contact requesting participation in a 30-minute interview. Project staff will follow up with the contacts to schedule and conduct the interviews.

Proposed sample size and rationale.

The sample size is 79 respondents from a cross-section of key organizations around the country. This sample size was selected in order to solicit information from a wide range of organizations, while balancing budget and timeline considerations.

Planned frequency of information collection.

The key informant interviews will be conducted one time.

Time period over which the information will be collected.

The interviews will be conducted over an eight to ten-week period.

Expected response rate and plan for follow-up, if any, of non-respondents.

To maximize interview response rates, after the initial request for an interview, the contractor will follow up twice via phone with prospective study participants. If the initial contact at an organization is non-responsive, other individuals with that entity will be identified who are known to either SAMHSA or the contractor, and appointments will be scheduled with them. We do not anticipate significant difficulties in obtaining interviews.

Expected ability to assess non-response bias using existing information.

We do not anticipate any non-response bias based on existing information.

Methods used to maintain customer privacy.

All responses will be recorded in internal notes during the interviews, and synthesized in a summary report. All responses will be kept private; individual names or organizations will not be linked to the responses. The summary report will be used as an internal report only with SAMHSA’s Office of Communications. The discussion guide (Attachment 3) specifically addresses adherence to privacy in the introduction.

D. Annual Response Burden Estimate

Annual Burden Estimate for Respondents

The total burden for the individual respondent is estimated at 30 minutes. Time estimates are based on experience with similar interview guides in other studies of comparable organizations. The key informant interviews will be conducted with a total of 79 individuals for an estimated cost burden of $2,268.88, as shown below.

Interview Guide	Number of Respondents	Responses per Respondent	Total Number of Responses	Burden per Respondent	Total Hour Burden	Hourly Wage Cost*	Total Cost
	79	1	79	.50	39.5	$57.44	$2,268.88

*The mean hourly wage is estimated at $57.44 for the types of respondents based on a mean annual salary of $119,460 (assessed through a review of average salary estimates of management occupations from the US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.)

Annual Burden Estimate for the Government

The cost to SAMHSA of the contract task to collect this information is $55,014.76 which includes one percent of a government FTE at a Grade 15 (for Washington, DC area), as well as:

• Review and reconfirm the organizations and key informants;

• Contractor labor hours for planning and conducting the key informant interviews; and

• Contractor labor hours to develop the summary report from the key informant interviews.

E. Methods Used to Develop and Test the Questions

The key informant interview guide had been shared in 2013 with Megan Humphries of Edelman and Thomas E. Backer, Ph.D., of the Human Interaction Research Institute. Ms. Humphries and Dr. Backer provided input and feedback on the approach, and their comments have been incorporated. The contractor conducted a pre-test of the discussion guide with an organization familiar to SAMHSA but not identified on 2013 list of organizations. This test measured the length of time of the interview, challenges or edits required with language used with the discussion guide (but not to change the intent of the question), and flow/ease of the discussion. The guide was used successfully in the first wave of interviews during 2013.

F. Federal Project Officer and Contractor

The SAMHSA Task Order Officer is:

August (Gus) Lodato

Office of Communications

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

5600 Fishers Lane, Room 18E24

Rockville, MD 20857

Phone: 240-276-2125

[email protected]

Crosby Marketing Communications (Contractor) lead for this task is:

Meredith Williams

Executive Vice President, Government Practice Leader

Crosby Marketing Communications

7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 310, East

Bethesda, MD 20814

Phone: 301-951-9200

[email protected]

Crosby Marketing Communications (Contractor) Contact for OMB-related matters:

Anya Karavanov, PhD

Director of Research

7315 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 310, East

Bethesda, MD 20814

Phone: 202-422-8942

[email protected]

G. Project Statistician and Data Collection Entity

The contractor will record notes from the key informant interviews using a computer-based version of the interview guide. Upon completion of all interviews, a summary report will be prepared analyzing the interview results. The use of compiled and analyzed results is at the sole discretion of the Office of Communications. No data will be shared publicly beyond the OC or the contract.

List of Attachments

Attachment 1: SAMHSA Agency-wide Strategic Communication Plan: Proposed Respondent Organizations by Category

Attachment 2: SAMHSA Agency-wide Strategic Communication Plan: Leadership Invitation Email/Letter to Participate with Key Informant Interviews

Attachment 3: SAMHSA Agency-wide Strategic Communication Plan: Key Informant Interview Guide

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