Abstract
Problem:
The Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities proposes to lead a five-year effort to coordinate increased access to pediatric mental health services, especially in underserved communities, through telehealth-based health integration in pediatric primary care in Georgia. Georgia children, youth, and families face a number of challenges in receiving mental health care including a shortage of child psychiatrists and other mental health providers, lack of access to specialty providers, and access barriers to care for rural Georgians. Over 47% of Georgians live in a county classified as a Mental Health
Professional Shortage Area. In 2011, DBHDD created the Interagency Directors Team (IDT), which is composed of director-level members from all child-serving agencies in Georgia, as well as partner organizations. The IDT is the state's multiagency System of Care (SOC) leadership collaborative, whose mission it is to manage, design, facilitate, and implement the SOC in
Georgia. Using the SOC Framework, will use the current funding opportunity to facilitate improvement in pediatric care, and the development of partnerships, sharing of information, lessons learned and contribute to the research on successful approaches to pediatric mental health care.
Goals and objectives:
Goal 1: Implement training to increase the number of pediatric primary care providers in Georgia who are trained to screen, treat and/or refer children affected by behavioral disorders, especially those who live in rural and underserved areas.
- 1.1 Provide 4 ECHO® training opportunities for pediatricians in Year 1 starting in Atlanta and Regions 4 & 5 in Georgia.
- 1.2 Provide 8 ECHO® training opportunities for pediatricians annually in years 2-5.
- 1.3 Provide 3 ECHO® training opportunities for public health and primary care nurses annually starting in year 2.
- 1.4 Train 100 pediatric primary care providers annually in Years 2-5 for a total of 400.
Goal 2: Provide support to the pediatric primary care workforce in Georgia through access to regional pediatric mental health teams providing behavioral health consultations, referral information, and care coordination.
- 2.1 By 2/29/2022, implement an outreach plan to enroll primary care providers in GA-Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) Program and market the consultation line.
- 2.2. Provide 100 telephonic consultations to pediatric primary care providers annually, starting in Atlanta and Regions 4 & 5.
Goal 3: Consolidate and expand disparate resource and referral databases to build and sustain a comprehensive online resource of behavioral health providers in Georgia.
- 3.1 By 2/29/2022 establish the on-line Behavioral Health Provider Database and Help Me Grow resource and increase use by 10% annually.
- 3.2 By 9/30/2022, create a sustainability plan to ensure database stays current and is integrated into the statewide resource and referral system.
Methodology:
Using the SOC framework, the project will facilitate improvement in pediatric care, and the development of partnerships, sharing of information, lessons learned and contribute to the research on successful approaches to pediatric mental health care.
Coordination:
DBHDD, Children's Health Care of Atlanta (CHOA), The Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (GA-AAP), the Center of Excellence for Children's Behavioral Health at Georgia State University, and other IDT stakeholders.
Evaluation:
The overarching purpose of the evaluation is threefold: 1. to document the process used to implement project goals and activities in order to measure adherence to the work plan and to identify barriers/challenges; 2. to measure the effect of the project on intermediate and longer-term outcomes, as defined in the work plan and logic model, and provide timely feedback to identify opportunities for improvement; and 3. to demonstrate the value and impact of the program and to help plan for program scalability and sustainability.