TY - JOUR
T1 - Primary care experiences of providing mental healthcare for children in the USA during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - A qualitative study
AU - Garbutt, Jane
AU - Dodd, Sherry
AU - Rook, Shannon
AU - Ericson, Lauren
AU - Sterkel, Randall
AU - Plax, Katie
N1 - Funding Information:
Work reported in this publication was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Additional funding was provided by our Department of Pediatrics, and the local Children’s Hospital.
Publisher Copyright:
© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.
PY - 2022/7/1
Y1 - 2022/7/1
N2 - Background The increased demand for mental healthcare associated with the COVID-19 pandemic adds to the already high unmet mental health needs among paediatric patients, resulting in a declared € mental health emergency'. The study objective was to describe paediatric primary care providers (PCPs') experience of meeting their patients' needs for mental healthcare during the pandemic and to identify opportunities to optimise care. Methods 19 paediatricians and 2 nurse practitioners completed a 30 min video interview in May 2021. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and transcripts were analysed using consensual qualitative research methods. Results Participants reported marked increases in patient mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. These included new diagnoses of anxiety and depression and increased treatment needs for patients with a prior mental health diagnosis. They identified that the mental health needs of their patients were greater, more severe and more challenging to manage with the resources currently available. While they were frustrated with the lack of communication and support from their mental health colleagues, and felt isolated and overwhelmed, they approached the increased demand for mental healthcare with a growth mindset. This outlook included providing care, seeking help to improve their skills and engaging with local resources such as the Child Psychiatry Access Project (CPAP). Conclusions Our findings suggest that urgent action is needed to better support paediatric PCPs to provide mental healthcare in our community. Providers identified an ongoing need for timely access to and effective communication with mental health providers to guide care in the medical home. This need could be addressed immediately by providing training for new and experienced clinicians, expanding the scope of CPAP programmes to include patient assessment and supporting implementation of integrated behavioural health programmes into the medical home.
AB - Background The increased demand for mental healthcare associated with the COVID-19 pandemic adds to the already high unmet mental health needs among paediatric patients, resulting in a declared € mental health emergency'. The study objective was to describe paediatric primary care providers (PCPs') experience of meeting their patients' needs for mental healthcare during the pandemic and to identify opportunities to optimise care. Methods 19 paediatricians and 2 nurse practitioners completed a 30 min video interview in May 2021. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and transcripts were analysed using consensual qualitative research methods. Results Participants reported marked increases in patient mental health needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. These included new diagnoses of anxiety and depression and increased treatment needs for patients with a prior mental health diagnosis. They identified that the mental health needs of their patients were greater, more severe and more challenging to manage with the resources currently available. While they were frustrated with the lack of communication and support from their mental health colleagues, and felt isolated and overwhelmed, they approached the increased demand for mental healthcare with a growth mindset. This outlook included providing care, seeking help to improve their skills and engaging with local resources such as the Child Psychiatry Access Project (CPAP). Conclusions Our findings suggest that urgent action is needed to better support paediatric PCPs to provide mental healthcare in our community. Providers identified an ongoing need for timely access to and effective communication with mental health providers to guide care in the medical home. This need could be addressed immediately by providing training for new and experienced clinicians, expanding the scope of CPAP programmes to include patient assessment and supporting implementation of integrated behavioural health programmes into the medical home.
KW - Adolescent health
KW - Child psychiatry
KW - Covid-19
KW - Qualitative research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134844983&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1136/bmjpo-2022-001497
DO - 10.1136/bmjpo-2022-001497
M3 - Article
C2 - 36053621
AN - SCOPUS:85134844983
SN - 2399-9772
VL - 6
JO - BMJ Paediatrics Open
JF - BMJ Paediatrics Open
IS - 1
M1 - e001497
ER -