Research

RQP’s work in parent involvement and in self-advocacy has been documented and evaluated as part of formative and qualitative evaluations. Each study has shown significant increases in parent or client confidence to take action, improved communications with service-providers and better outcomes for them and their families.

Recently, scholars in different fields have begun to study RQP’s work in rigorous randomized studies.

Mental Health

The work of Prof. Margarita Alegria, Harvard Medical School and her colleagues at the Center for Multicultural Mental Health Research (CMMHR) offers a remarkable demonstration of the universal relevance of RQP’s methods. In a NIH-funded study, CMMHR tested the effectiveness of teaching RQP’s methods to primarily Latino clients at a community mental health center. The results were striking. Patient activation and engagement were two and three times higher among patients taught RQP skills than comparison patients. The results of this study are documented in the medical journal, Medical Care, March 2008. The potential of the RQP strategy has been identified for the field and has now received a second round of funding to expand to a national randomized study.

Voter Engagement

In a review of data from the 2004 pilot of the RQP voter education initiative in New Hampshire and Arizona, a researcher at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University found clear examples of “strong success… particularly in strengthening critical thinking skills.” A pre and post-assessment of one group of adult learners in Arizona also found that learning skills for focusing on decisions and asking their own questions led 93% of them to feel “more prepared” to vote and 87% to confirm they are much more likely to vote than if they had not learned the skills.

This year, Professor Donald Green, a national expert on voter mobilization efforts, and Dr. Shang Ha of Yale University's Institution for Social and Policy Studies are leading a major research project studying the RQP Voter Engagement Strategy in Arizona, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania.