Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2021 - 17

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH / FEATURE
SESSION 5
The power of knowledge
Hospitals are helping primary care providers elevate their mental
health competencies and their comfort level treating pediatric patients.
THE EXPERTS
Sandra Fritsch, M.D., Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Children's Hospital Colorado
Tami Benton, M.D., Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Executive Director and Chair of the Department of Child and Adolescent
Psychiatry, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
David DeMaso, M.D., Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Boston Children's Hospital
STEPPED CARE MODEL
Concern or problem?
David DeMaso: " We help primary care
providers think through whether there's
a concern or a problem with a patient. If
there's a concern, we have guided selfmanagement
tools that they can give to
the patient's family. If there is a real problem,
we get into how to conduct a focused
assessment. That usually involves rating
scales and clinical interviews, where we
help the provider understand the patient's
history, the severity-meaning
mild, moderate, severe-the complexity
and the safety. That sets in motion a triage
system where mild and moderate ...
can be taken care of in primary care or, if
more severe, in specialty care. "
SMALL-GROUP LEARNING
Big gains in
small numbers
Tami Benton: " Our method was didactic
education with case-based learning in
small groups ... and those small groups
would continue through what would be a
series of supervised Zoom calls monthly,
which provided a learning environment
for exploring professional identity,
doctor-patient
interaction,
emotional
responses to patient care and developing
diagnostic, interviewing and treatment
skills for the pediatricians. "
EDUCATION SERIES
3 strategies for success
Sandra Fritsch says these types of events
lead to effective learning:
LUNCH AND LEARNS. These events cover
assessment
and screening, depression,
anxiety and suicide. (Currently virtual due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.)
EDUCATION
SESSIONS. These include
parents who talk about what it's like to
work with primary care providers on their
child's behavioral health needs.
ANNUAL LEARNING COLLABORATIVE. This
one-day intensive learning session covers
topics such as how to talk with teens
and how to coach parents on handling
disruptive behaviors.
" If primary
care providers
can safely and
effectively
manage mild
or moderate
disorders,
then scarce
behavioral
health
specialists can
be conserved for
the management
of severe
or complex
disorders.
-DAVID DEMASO
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Fall 2021
17

Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2021

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