| Course | IBC 793 Applied Project |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | SBAR brief |
| Length | About 345 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Arizona State University |
| Program | Doctor of Behavioral Health |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for IBC 793 Module 2
Closing the Loop: An SBAR on Follow-Up After Positive Adolescent Depression Screens
Student Name
Doctor of Behavioral Health, Arizona State University
IBC 793: Applied Project
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Closing the Loop: An SBAR on Follow-Up After Positive Adolescent Depression Screens
Situation
At our illustrative pediatric clinic, adolescents ages 12 to 17 complete the PHQ-9 modified for adolescents at well visits. A six-month chart audit found that of 74 teens who screened positive, only 28 (38%) had documented follow-up, such as a behavioral health visit or a care plan, within 30 days. Two-thirds of adolescents who screened positive for depression had no recorded next step.
Background
Depression is common in adolescence: in 2023, 18.1% of U.S. adolescents ages 12 to 17 had a major depressive episode in the past year (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA], 2024). Federal prevention guidance now backs routine depression screening for everyone 12 to 18 for major depressive disorder (US Preventive Services Task Force, 2022), and a PHQ-9 cut point of 11 detected major depression among adolescents with 89.5% sensitivity and 77.5% specificity (Richardson et al., 2010). Screening helps only when positive results lead to care. In primary care, collaborative care for adolescent depression more than doubled remission at 12 months, from 20.7% to 50.4% (Richardson et al., 2014).
Assessment
The clinic screens well but does not reliably close the loop. Staff report that the behavioral health consultant is often busy when a screen is scored, that positive results are not tracked once the visit ends and that some families decline same-day help but are never called back. About half of our adolescents' parents prefer Spanish, and Spanish-language follow-up options are limited. The gap places adolescents with untreated depression at risk and leaves the clinic short of its own quality goals.
Recommendation
I recommend a quality improvement project to raise documented 30-day follow-up after a positive screen from 38% to 75% within six months. The project would combine same-day warm handoffs to the behavioral health consultant, a registry tracked by a care coordinator who contacts families within seven days and Spanish-language outreach. I request approval to proceed to a PICOT question and full proposal and a meeting with the medical director and behavioral health lead this month.
References
Richardson, L. P., Ludman, E., McCauley, E., Lindenbaum, J., Larison, C., Zhou, C., Clarke, G., Brent, D., & Katon, W. (2014). Collaborative care for adolescents with depression in primary care: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 312(8), 809-816. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.9259
Richardson, L. P., McCauley, E., Grossman, D. C., McCarty, C. A., Richards, J., Russo, J. E., Rockhill, C., & Katon, W. (2010). Evaluation of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 item for detecting major depression among adolescents. Pediatrics, 126(6), 1117-1123. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2010-0852
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2024). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality.
US Preventive Services Task Force. (2022). Screening for depression and suicide risk in children and adolescents: US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. JAMA, 328(15), 1534-1542. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2022.16946
IBC 793 Module 2 instructions, in plain terms
Due in Module 2, the 20-point SBAR is the first product you submit in IBC 793. It introduces the problem of practice your applied project will address, using the Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation structure common in health care communication. Keep it brief and decision-focused: state the problem with local data, summarize the evidence that makes it important, assess the causes and consequences in your setting and recommend a specific next step. The same problem carries through the PICOT question, the population and evidence papers, the root cause analysis and the budget, so choose a gap you can study and improve within your organization. Your chair will use the SBAR to judge whether the project is feasible in your setting, so include enough local detail to show that it is.
How this IBC 793 Module 2 example is built
The sample follows the four SBAR headings exactly. The Situation section gives one clear local figure from a chart audit, labeled hypothetical. Background combines national prevalence, the screening recommendation, the accuracy of the screening tool and trial evidence that treatment works. Assessment names local causes reported by staff and an equity concern. Recommendation states a measurable aim and a concrete request. The brief stays short, as SBAR documents should, and margin notes comment on the choices behind each heading. Citations are limited to sources that later papers in the project will reuse. The brief is written for a medical director who has five minutes, which is why every sentence carries information.
IBC 793 Module 2 rubric: what earns full marks
Faculty reviewing the SBAR look for a clearly stated problem with local evidence, a concise background supported by current sources, an assessment that explains why the gap exists in this setting and a recommendation that is specific and actionable. Briefs lose points when the situation is vague, when the background becomes a long literature review, when the assessment offers opinions without evidence or when the recommendation is a general wish rather than a proposal. Because the SBAR anchors the whole applied project, a well-defined, measurable problem earns credit now and saves revisions later. Stating where the clinic starts, where it aims to be and by when shows the chair that the project can be evaluated within the course.
IBC 793 Module 2 help with common mistakes
Pull one number from your setting that shows the problem. Write the Situation in two or three sentences. Use the Background for the strongest national data and guidance only. In the Assessment, list what staff say causes the gap. Make the Recommendation a measurable aim plus a request. Keep the whole brief to about one page. Ask a colleague whether a leader could act on it after one reading. Is the problem sprawling? Ask our desk to help carve out a manageable piece. Save your sources for the PICOT paper. Draft the Recommendation first, then make sure the other three sections lead to it. Keep jargon out of the Situation section.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Arizona State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More IBC 793 and Doctor of Behavioral Health sample papers
- IBC 793 Module 3: PICOT Assignment: Building the Applied Project's Clinical Question
- IBC 793 Module 4: PICOT Population Paper: Adolescents With Positive Depression Screens in a Pediatric Clinic
- IBC 793 Module 5: Table Technique: An Evidence Table for the Project's Intervention
- IBC 793 Module 6: Intervention Steps and Timeline: Planning Six Months of Implementation
- IBC 793 Module 7: Evidenced Based Intervention Paper: Warm Handoffs With Registry-Based Follow-Up
- IBC 793 Module 8: PICOT Current Status and Root Cause Analysis Paper: Why Follow-Up Fails
- IBC 793 Module 9: PICOT Identified Outcomes Paper: Outcome, Process and Balancing Measures
- IBC 793 Module 10: Measurement Tool Paper: The PHQ-9 for Adolescents and the Project Registry
- IBC 793 Module 11: Proposed Budget: The Costs of Closing the Loop
- IBC 603 Module 6: Population Health Management Planning Paper: Depression in Adults With Diabetes
IBC 793 Module 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free IBC 793 Module 2 sample paper?
This page has the whole SBAR on closing the loop after teen depression screens.
What does SBAR stand for?
Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation.
What is the IBC 793 SBAR assignment for?
Introducing the applied project's problem of practice in a decision-focused format.
Should adolescents be screened for depression?
The USPSTF recommends screening adolescents ages 12 to 18 for major depressive disorder.
How common is depression in U.S. adolescents?
In 2023, 18.1% of adolescents ages 12 to 17 had a past-year major depressive episode.