Pediatric Mental Health Minutes Series

Why is This Program Important?

Over the last several years, there has been growing recognition of the impact of pediatric mental health disorders on children and adolescents, their families, and their communities.  The care of these children has been severely affected by the lack of appropriate pediatric mental health providers, such as child psychiatrists, child psychologists, and psychiatric social workers, across the country and globally.  Wait times for referral to a child psychiatrist are up to 6-12 months, even in highly populated areas with the most providers.

It has become increasingly clear that primary care pediatricians must fill the gap left by the lack of mental health providers, yet education on pediatric mental health disorders was never included in the curriculum for general pediatrics residency, thus the current day pediatrician does not have the requisite knowledge to serve in this role.  Multiple surveys conducted by the AAP and other sources confirm that pediatricians consider pediatric mental health to be their biggest knowledge gap and their greatest need.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly exacerbated the need for education on pediatric mental health for pediatricians, as their patients and families, as well as their local communities, are under significant stress.  The incidence of pediatric mental health disorders, adolescent depression, and suicide have all escalated.  Yet at the same time that patients need their pediatricians as mental health providers, those same care givers are facing time constraints, diminishing revenues, and increased stress that leaves little time for the acquisition of education and few resources that are easily accessible and timely.

Who Can Benefit?

Pediatricians and other practitioners that provide care to children and young adults are the target for this educational intervention.  Primary care physicians, as well as subspecialists, have been called upon to take care of children with underlying mental health disorders. This series will provide the knowledge and skills to do so.

Program Details

The goal of the AAP Pediatric Mental Health Minute (PMHM) Series is to provide real time education to pediatricians in small enough units as to be accessible during the crisis but sufficiently informative as to improve the knowledge and skills of pediatricians treating children and adolescents with mental health disorders.  The series is conceived as individual units that can be viewed in a short amount of time and include the following:

• A web page highlighting key teaching points and containing resources for both providers and patients/families (takes 1-3 minutes to read)
• An attached video for more in-depth education (10-15 minutes)

The series can be viewed as individual units or packaged as a single course.

How is the Program Implemented?

The materials for the Pediatric Mental Health Minute can be created by faculty through the AAP, or crafted by local faculty in collaboration with the AAP, allowing the material to be tailored to local pediatric mental health issues, or a combination of the two.   Because the material is delivered on virtually and asynchronously, it can be housed locally (or at the AAP) and accessed at any time.

In addition, we also offer a live (in-person or virtual) course on the Recognition and Treatment of Pediatric Mental Health Disorders, that further expands the content presented in the PMHM series, which is a 2 ½ day course covering in-depart a variety of important topics related to pediatric mental health. (the course agenda for the April course could be attached).

Delivering Value and Impact

The Pediatric Mental Health Minute Series was launched in June 2020 in weekly installments which are posted on our website.  They have been accessed frequently and have been highly rated by our members and other learners.  We received an initial small start-up grant which enabled us to produce the first series and we are now developing further content based on feedback we received.

The Live Virtual Course on the Recognition and Treatment of Pediatric Mental Health Disorders will run in April 2021 and has already exceeded expectations for registration.

The PMHM series has filled a critical gap in the knowledge of practitioners caring for children, but is only a start.  We continue to seek and develop other educational programs to address this important topic.

Partnerships

We have partnered with our subject matter experts/faculty to successfully accomplish these educational programs.

Demos

Anxiety: Pediatric Mental Health Minute Series