To assess initial, post-intervention, and ongoing employee status, we are using the GAIN-CGP. The GAIN-CGP is a comprehensive nine page assessment that focuses on issues and problems that can come up in an EAP setting.
Lighthouse Institute, the research and training division of Chestnut Health Systems (our parent company), developed the GAIN family of instruments (www.chestnut.org/li/gain), which includes the GAIN-CGP. The GAIN instruments have been used in hundreds of studies and are psychometrically robust and scientifically valid. It is designed for self-administration with paper and pencil or by computer and can be easily converted to a scannable or web-based form as part of a larger system.
The GAIN-CGP is available in English, Spanish, Mandarin, and Russian. The Spanish translations, for example, of the assessment tool followed rigorous translation protocols, including leadership by a translation advisory group composed of native Spanish speakers from multiple Latino communities in the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.
The 15 minute GAIN-CGP is designed primarily for three things:
- It serves as a screener in general populations to quickly and accurately identify clients who would have a disorder on the full GAIN (typically a requirement for treatment entry in a behavioral health setting) and rule out those who would not.
- It serves as an easy-to-use quality assurance tool across diverse field-assessment systems for staff with minimal training or direct supervision.
- It serves as a periodic measure of change over time in behavioral health.
- Background (demographics and reasons for seeking help),
- General Factors (risk factors associated with substance use or mental health problems),
- Sources of Stress (personal and environmental stressors),
- Physical Health (various aspects of one’s physical health status), and
- Emotional/Behavioral Problems (symptoms of internal, external, and substance-related problems).
Space is also provided for initial referral information and EAP recommendations.