Explore information, practical tools, and helpful resources to support pediatricians and primary care practices in improving pediatric mental health care. This page is a hub for quality improvement efforts focused on identifying and supporting children and teens with anxiety and depression – from routine screening to effective follow-up care.


Project Background

From 2020 to 2025, the Anxiety and Depression Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) project, in partnership with the National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health, equipped pediatric primary care providers (PCPs) with tools and support to address the rising mental and behavioral health needs of children and adolescents. Using Project ECHO’s telementoring model with a blend of didactic instruction and case-based learning, the aim of the project was to build the capacity of PCPs to deliver quality behavioral and mental health care, with a focus on anxiety and depression.

Participants joined a bi-directional virtual learning community designed to increase their knowledge, skills, and confidence in addressing anxiety and depression in pediatric patients. Over the course of the ECHO project, 5 cohorts participated in 8-10 monthly educational ECHO sessions.

Optional Quality Improvement Track: In 2023, an optional quality improvement (QI) track was introduced. The aim of the optional QI Track was to improve mental health screening, specifically for anxiety and depression, follow-up on positive screens, use of brief interventions, response to family and patient concerns, and identification of patient and family strengths for patients aged 8 to 21 years.

To meet these aims, QI methodology was utilized by participating practices to identify, test and measure practice-level changes. During QI sessions, individual practice run charts were reviewed, small tests of change assessed, and tools for implementation shared. In addition, practices received individualized QI coaching throughout the project. The approach evolved over time to meet participants’ needs – while QI sessions were initially held monthly, the number of sessions was later reduced.

Acknowledgments

The AAP would like to extend special thanks to the ECHO faculty, consultants, participating practices, and the ECHO staff for their assistance in guiding this work and in the development of the change package.

In addition, the AAP would like to thank the National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) for Child, Youth, and Family Mental Health for their partnership and support in the implementation of the Anxiety and Depression ECHO.

This project was supported by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of financial assistance award SM-20-008 over five years (2020-2025) with 100 percent funded by SAMHSA/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by SAMHSA/HHS, or the U.S. Government.  

Last Updated

07/09/2025

Source

American Academy of Pediatrics