Funded Projects

Problem:

Rhode Island (RI) children and adolescents face significant challenges in accessing timely and affordable mental health care. Approximately one in five RI children aged 6 to 17 have a diagnosable mental health problem, and one in ten has a significant functional impairment. Access to psychiatric consultation, referral, and care coordination remains challenging because of the lack of child mental health providers, insurance barriers, geography, and the availability of outpatient/ambulatory services. use this funding to continue to provide services, expand the number of pediatric providers participating in the program, the types of providers that can use the program for assistance and support, training and technical assistance to PPCP's to increase cultural competency, and the number of children served.

Goals and Objectives:

In response, the problem, the Rhode Island Pediatric Psychiatry Resource Network (PediPRN) developed goals to: 1) Increase the number of providers using the program for real-time behavioral consultations and/or care coordination support services; 2) Increase the number of providers trained on child and adolescent behavioral disorders, including screening, diagnosis, and treatment ; 3) Increase the number of provider trainings that incorporate equity and respectful or culturally and linguistically responsive care; 4):Increase the number of children and adolescents for whom a provider contacted the program for consultation and/or care coordination services, especially those living in rural and other underserved areas; 5) Continue to support the infrastructure of the PediRPN program. The objectives are designed to achieve these goals, they include enhancing outreach efforts and including site visits; increasing utilization by meeting specific provider needs, like bridge services; increasing the capacity of training to reach greater numbers of providers, increasing resource capacity for providers; reaching new types of providers, and supporting health equity within all components of PediPRN.

Methodology:

The RI Department of Health (RIDOH) will contract Bradley Hospital to implement PediPRN. Activities include telephonic consultations, including recommendations for medical prescribing; face-to-face psychiatric evaluations, with return to the treating primary care practitioner for medication management; phone availability for ongoing collaboration; referral to other services based on the needs of the child or adolescent, and short-term therapy to bridge children awaiting the appropriate behavioral health services.

Coordination:

RIDOH and Bradley's existing partnerships with mental health providers, health providers, child and adolescent support services, and sister state agencies speak to its readiness to implement the work described in this application. RIDOH and Bradley staff will collaborate closely on all aspects of this program.

Evaluation:

Staff from RIDOH and Bradley Hospital have the expertise to evaluate the PediPRN project. The project will collect data related to all services, consultation, training, coordination, and resource and referrals for program monitoring and improvement, and to track short and long terms anticipated outcomes.