Project Description:
This ECHO program was developed to address gaps in meeting the high need for improved pediatric mental health care. Although it is estimated that at least 20% of children and adolescents are at risk for a mental, emotional, or behavioral disorder, the majority of these children do not receive adequate or comprehensive treatment, putting them at risk for short and long term problems such as school failure, substance abuse, risky sexual behavior, truancy and adverse adult life events. Barriers to accessing needed mental health care include lack of specialty providers, fragmented mental health resources, lack of communication between providers, and stigma for those children and adolescents who seek care. Schools can be an important setting to detect and treat mental health concerns. Yet barriers also exist with respect to providing evidence-based mental health care in schools. Many schools do not have sufficient staff with skills to address the large number of children with mental health disorders, and there is a national shortage of child psychiatrists and developmental-behavioral pediatricians to serve as consultants.
The Project ECHO School-Based Mental Health program seeks to close these gaps by providing training on the identification and management of mental health disorders to both school staff and community mental health providers such as pediatricians, therapists and psychologists. By bringing providers together from both the school-based and community-based settings, the training aims to facilitate interdisciplinary, cross-system collaboration and to increase access to pediatric mental health.
Program participants were recruited through AAP chapters in Nevada and surrounding states, through the Nevada ECHO list-serve, through Nevada school districts, Nevada Project AWARE, and through several Nevada training programs. A diverse group of professionals from a variety of related disciplines (school psychologists, school-based mental health professionals, pediatricians, nurses, outpatient mental health clinicians, special educators and others) signed up for the program and participated in several orientation sessions during September, 2017. Of note, a majority of participants came from rural areas. School-Based Mental Health ECHO sessions began in October of 2017, and have been conducted twice monthly for one hour since then. The program is set to conclude in July of 2018.
The general structure of the ECHO sessions consist of the following: a) presentation of a short, mini-didactic on a topic of interest by one of the Hub experts (a team including a child psychiatrist, developmental-behavioral pediatrician, child neuropsychologist and board-certified behavior analyst); b) short case presentation by a participant focusing on a consultation question that the participant would like help on from the group; c) clarifying questions asked by the group of the presenter, and finally, d) suggestions and feedback provided by the group to the presenter, with the expert Hub team ensuring that the suggestions are clinically appropriate and comprehensive. After the session is over, the presenter gets a typed-up list of the suggestions that were brainstormed during the session. Participants also have opportunities to re-present cases after several months to give follow-up on how the cases turned out. As Project ECHO is approved for CME (Continuing Medical Education) credit, those participants who wish to claim CME complete a survey after the session. Participants are also encouraged to complete a survey after each session that elicits their feedback on how the session went, and is used for program quality improvement purposes.
Area of Emphasis
Quality Assurance, Education & Early Intervention, Health-Related Activities, Other - Cultural Diversity
Target Audience:
Students/Trainees (long or intermediate trainees), Community Trainees / Short term trainees, Professionals and Para-Professionals
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote
