Child and Adolescent Mental Health

Child and Adolescent Mental Health / en Sat, 26 Apr 2025 00:01:49 -0500 Thu, 20 Mar 25 10:34:47 -0500 From Infancy to Adolescence: Supporting Youth Mental Health /education-events/infancy-adolescence-supporting-youth-mental-health Thursday, May 29, 12 – 1 p.m. ET | 11 am – 12 p.m. CT&nbsp; Mental health conditions impact many children and their families. The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/children-mental-health/data-research/index.html">Center for Disease Control and Prevention</a>&nbsp;reports that anxiety, behavior disorders and depression are the most diagnosed mental conditions, impacting 1 in 7 children. Additionally, our modern world is rife with stressors that many children and their parents struggle to contend with. Yet, many children are unable to access the behavioral health care services that could support them.This webinar will explore the mental health challenges that today’s youth face and how health care organizations can integrate behavioral health to create support systems that foster the mental well-being of children and adolescents.Behavioral health experts from Lurie Children’s Hospital and St. Louis Children’s Hospital will share insights on how pediatric hospitals can implement programs to address youth mental health from infancy through adolescence.&nbsp;Speakers:<ul><li>John T. Walkup, M.D., chair, Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Ann &amp; Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago</li><li>Thomas Saggio, RN-BC, MSN, MHS, director of Behavioral Health Operations, St. Louis Children's Hospital</li></ul>This webinar is open to all, and will be recorded.&nbsp; &nbsp; Thu, 20 Mar 2025 10:34:47 -0500 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Caring for Our Kids Podcast Series /advancing-health-podcast/2025-02-18-caring-our-kids-podcast-series <hr><div></div>&nbsp; Tue, 18 Feb 2025 22:09:00 -0600 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Shodair Children’s Hospital launches Hope Campaign /role-hospitals-shodair-childrens-hospital-launches-hope-campaign <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-6"><img src="/sites/default/files/2025-02/ths-shodair-hope-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Shodair Children's Hope Campaign ad features a young girl smiling in a field of tall grass" width="700" height="532"></div>Shodair Children’s Hospital in Helena, Mont., has launched the Hope Campaign to reduce stigma and encourage conversations about youth mental health. Montana has the highest suicide rate in the nation among kids aged 10 to 14 and continues to face significant youth mental health challenges. Shodair is unique as the only Montana hospital in the Children’s Miracle Hospital Network and the sole psychiatric hospital among the network’s 175 hospitals in the U.S. and Canada.The Hope Campaign seeks to raise funds to support treatments not covered by insurance. A key feature of the campaign is a children's book that tells a relatable story about animals in Montana's ecosystem, designed to help children discuss mental health and their feelings. The book, which will be distributed for free across the state, invites the public to support the initiative.“We are trying to bring more awareness to what we’re doing here, the lives we continue to save, and reach out to kids and their families. I want to make them aware that this is a safe place to bring their kid to heal,” said hospital CEO Craig Aasved.<a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.ktvh.com/news/shodair-childrens-hospital-launches-hope-campaign">LEARN MORE</a></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/community-benefit">Benefiting Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Tue, 18 Feb 2025 13:21:36 -0600 Child and Adolescent Mental Health AHA podcast: Caring for Our Kids — How OHSU Is Addressing Psychosocial Needs in Complex Pediatric Patients /news/headline/2025-02-03-aha-podcast-caring-our-kids-how-ohsu-addressing-psychosocial-needs-complex-pediatric-patients In this new “Caring for Our Kids” episode, David Wagner, pediatric psychologist at Oregon Health and Science University, discusses the Novel Interventions in Children's Healthcare program and how this innovative approach is transforming care for vulnerable children. <a href="/advancing-health-podcast/2025-02-03-caring-our-kids-how-ohsu-addressing-psychosocial-needs-complex-pediatric-patients">LISTEN NOW</a><div></div> Mon, 03 Feb 2025 15:53:37 -0600 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Caring for Our Kids: How OHSU is Addressing Psychosocial Needs in Complex Pediatric Patients /advancing-health-podcast/2025-02-03-caring-our-kids-how-ohsu-addressing-psychosocial-needs-complex-pediatric-patients Children with serious medical conditions can also face complex psychosocial challenges and barriers, including food and transportation insecurity and housing instability. In this new “Caring for Our Kids” episode, David Wagner, Ph.D., pediatric psychologist at OHSU, discusses the Novel Interventions in Children's Healthcare (NICH) program, and how this innovative approach is transforming care for vulnerable children.<hr><div></div><hr><div class="raw-html-embed"> <details class="transcript"> <summary> <h2 title="Click here to open/close the transcript."> View Transcript &nbsp; </h2> </summary> 00:00:00:18 - 00:00:27:25 Tom Haederle Welcome to Advancing Health. Coming up in today's episode, a conversation with a pediatric psychologist about the psychosocial challenges for kids with complex medical needs. The challenges can be many: Missed school, food insecurity, transportation issues and others. Our host is Julia Resnick, director of Strategic Initiatives with H.R. 00:00:27:27 - 00:00:33:12 Tom Haederle Julia, over to you. 00:00:33:14 - 00:00:42:12 Julie Resnick So I'd love to start with learning a little bit more about you and the work that you do. Can you introduce yourself to our listeners and tell us just a little bit about your professional background and interests? 00:00:42:14 - 00:01:07:02 David Wagner, Ph.D. Sure, yeah. Again, my name is David Wagner. I'm a pediatric psychologist and a clinician scientist. Very passionate about and interested in ways to identify youth at risk of health and life inequities, as well as evaluating programs and developing programs that can address those inequities. Work at OHSU and in Dawn Becker Children's Hospital. We are the top ranked children's hospital in Oregon. 00:01:07:02 - 00:01:28:07 David Wagner, Ph.D. We serve a population of roughly 50% youth on Medicaid. We don't just serve the state of Oregon, but also southern Washington, northern California and Idaho. I particularly work in the Department of Pediatrics. With the Novel Interventions and Children's Health Care Program, where we work with young people who have a combination of medical complexity and high social risk. 00:01:28:09 - 00:01:34:18 Julie Resnick So talk about that a little bit more. What are some of the psychosocial challenges for kids with complex medical needs? 00:01:34:20 - 00:02:08:22 David Wagner, Ph.D. It's a great question. I mean, just in general, we know that kids with complex medical needs already have to engage in really complicated disease management. Miss school for attending medical appointments. They and their caregivers spend a lot of their day engaged in care. Outside of everything else, that's tricky about being a young person. In addition, we actually have a subset of young people who have complex medical conditions who also experience high levels of food insecurity, houselessness, exposure to domestic violence, transportation challenges that make it nearly impossible to engage in recommended care. 00:02:08:24 - 00:02:26:28 Julie Resnick Yeah. So if it wasn't hard enough to be a kid with a complex medical issue, to have all those other issues surrounding your family and your community, it's just got to be really challenging for those kids. And I think that all leads us to the work that you do with NICH. So can you tell us about the program and what its origins were? 00:02:27:00 - 00:02:51:07 David Wagner, Ph.D. Yeah, another great question. So this is a little over ten years ago, I had yet to come to OHSU. Dr. Michael Harris, he's our pediatric psychologist who leads our inpatient consult service. And so when young people are admitted to the hospital for reasons that the medical team believes is avoidable, they call in our inpatient console team to try to help understand what are some of the challenges experienced outside the hospital, and how can we help improve the child's health. 00:02:51:09 - 00:03:10:22 David Wagner, Ph.D. Even with all of his advanced training and experience, he identified that there was a group of youth where there were no medical interventions or mental health or behavioral health interventions that were going to effectively change the factors that were driving the health problems that they are experiencing. The health problems they're experiencing were happening outside the hospital, in the communities, in the neighborhoods. In general, 00:03:10:22 - 00:03:37:09 David Wagner, Ph.D. these youth experienced just a lot of social challenges, as did their families who were doing the best they could. And so I think any innovation comes from that combination of passion, frustration and curiosity. How can we do this better? And so Dr. Harris, Kim Spiro, they co-developed this program NICH, where we deliver services to the community in the homes of the youth who are experiencing medical conditions and social risk, to address the inequities they're experiencing. 00:03:37:11 - 00:04:09:17 David Wagner, Ph.D. Often it's how do we find stable housing? How do we find secure food that you can reliably depend on? How do we help you gain access to transportation? We go with young people to their schools. We go to them to the mall. We meet their friends, we meet their extended family, and we work closely with the medical providers here at OHSU and other medical centers, just to better understand the challenges that families are facing and collaborate to help ensure that we're all on the same page and can help support them in managing their medical condition at home. 00:04:09:19 - 00:04:24:15 Julie Resnick Yeah. I often like to say that people are only patients for this short, finite period of their life and the rest of who they are is everything outside of the hospital. So can you talk a bit about what kind of support and services kids and their families receive when they're part of the program? 00:04:24:18 - 00:04:43:09 David Wagner, Ph.D. Yeah, it's a combination of services. We really like to tailor our services to family needs. The providers who go out into the home, they are not mental health providers. They are not medical providers. We call them interventionists. And what they do is they first assess the needs the families have and then they tailor their services depending on what families tell them. 00:04:43:10 - 00:05:11:09 David Wagner, Ph.D. So for some families, it's really intensive case management. How do we figure out how we can get you access to the resource, to resources to address basic needs so that we have more time and energy to manage the medical condition? For others, it's making sure that all of the different providers involved in their child's life are providing consistent recommendations across providers and also making sure that the family and providers are interacting in ways that the family is able to and interested in accessing care and following through with recommendations. 00:05:11:12 - 00:05:28:26 David Wagner, Ph.D. And a lot of what we also just do is reinforcing all of the efforts that they're already doing to try to manage their medical condition and then working with them in the other environments that they live to ensure that the insulin gets in the body, that they're able to follow the recommended dietary plan and engage in other parts of the medical care that are recommended. 00:05:28:28 - 00:05:39:12 Julie Resnick Let's talk a little bit about the care team. I know that your team has child psychologists and interventionists, but who else is part of the care team? And how do you all work together when caring for patients? 00:05:39:15 - 00:06:00:14 David Wagner, Ph.D. We work really closely with our specialty and primary care providers, especially here at OHSU. They are super invested in these families and so they're often providing us with guidance and education on what that medical regimen would look like at home, so that when we're out in the home, we can support the family in their, their efforts to engage. Our team, our interventionists come from all walks of life. 00:06:00:17 - 00:06:19:10 David Wagner, Ph.D. We've recruited folks from Starbucks. We've recruited people who are working for other community agencies interested in populations that are less represented, making sure they get equitable care. The common theme is that the folks who work on our team are all heavily invested and passionate about this population. And we like to refer to them as social chameleons: 00:06:19:10 - 00:06:36:25 David Wagner, Ph.D. they're able to walk into a physician's office and briefly and quickly summarize patient care in a way that they're taken seriously, but then walk into a family's home who's living in poverty and take their time and slow down and connect and better understand the family's lived experience. So, there's really a diverse range of individuals who work with our team. 00:06:36:27 - 00:06:51:07 Julie Resnick I love that idea of a social chameleon and just needing people who can be adaptable in different situations. So I want to pull on that thread about schools. You mentioned that these are one of the organizations that you partner with a lot. What does that partnership look like? 00:06:51:09 - 00:07:08:04 David Wagner, Ph.D. Yeah. You know, the schools we've worked with have been heavily invested in the youth health. We actually work a lot with school nurses, so a lot of our young people have to go to the nurse to get their medication or to take their insulin. And so a lot of what we're doing is working with those in the schools who are directly interacting with the youth. 00:07:08:06 - 00:07:21:22 David Wagner, Ph.D. A lot of our kids have been missing school, too, or having difficulties attending school because of their medical condition. So we work with school staff to help get them caught up, to make sure that the accommodations that they need are in place. And just in general to support their education. 00:07:21:25 - 00:07:32:20 Julie Resnick So by now, I think our listeners are probably wondering, how do I do something like this in my organization? So my question for you is, how do you get this off the ground? What do they need to do to get started? 00:07:32:22 - 00:07:51:24 David Wagner, Ph.D. It's a complicated process. You know, what we've learned is that in the beginning, often having philanthropists seems to sometimes be the best way. Having somebody in your community who says, I really care about this population, whether it's because they just are very invested in health equity, or maybe they have a close family member they themselves who have a chronic condition. 00:07:51:24 - 00:08:05:27 David Wagner, Ph.D. And they imagine to themselves, wow, what would that be like if I had this or my child have this, and we didn't have secure housing and we didn't know where our next meal would come from, or we were trying to adapt to a new culture. Part of it is engaging those who really care about this population. 00:08:06:00 - 00:08:25:26 David Wagner, Ph.D. Another part of it is working within an institution that truly cares about health equity and is willing to, essentially put their money where their mouth is. So we don't make money for OHSU. They see the benefit to their patient population. They see the benefit to their medical providers who can sleep well at night. And they generally just see the benefits of their institution as a whole. 00:08:25:28 - 00:08:45:06 David Wagner, Ph.D. Once we start building a team and launching, what we tend to find is over time, that we are able to get revenue from other sources as well. A lot of local Medicaid entities are interested in kids staying out of the hospital. And so they become invested in that and they'll contribute funding. And we also have larger research foundations that also contribute. 00:08:45:08 - 00:08:54:14 David Wagner, Ph.D. Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has been one of our biggest supporters. And they've actually helped us spread not only here in Oregon but to the Bay Area in California. 00:08:54:17 - 00:08:59:15 Julie Resnick Let's talk more about impact. How do you know that you're making a difference for the kids you're serving? 00:08:59:18 - 00:09:16:25 David Wagner, Ph.D. Yeah. No, it's another really good question. You know, when we got into this, this work, a lot of it was really focused on like, number one is how do we help these kids and families get the outcomes that they want? And so first, understanding from them what's most important and how to get their needs met and address any life inequities they're experiencing. 00:09:16:27 - 00:09:46:02 David Wagner, Ph.D. We've increasingly focused to collect data that &nbsp;is most important to the stakeholders who then fund programs like this. So we're very focused on the quintuple aim. We measure lab values and other physical findings to understand the patient's experience, improved health. We look at the kids experience fewer emergency department visits and admissions for avoidable reasons. We talk to our medical providers and give them surveys to assess provider burnout and improve quality of life they experience when they're not up late at night thinking about kids that they're worried about. 00:09:46:05 - 00:10:08:02 David Wagner, Ph.D. We also look at attendance. We found that youth in the program are much more likely to attend outpatient visits, and they're much less likely to no show, which is really good for them, but also good for the medical community. We also find that when one of the one of our studies looked at youth of color and essentially found that the youth of color referred to our program had roughly half the access to care of non-Hispanic white youth. 00:10:08:07 - 00:10:29:22 David Wagner, Ph.D. And then we looked at two years following program involvement. We saw that that disparity in access had completely disappeared. And so for sites who are invested in health equity, we have we have outcomes that demonstrate that the NICH bridges that gap. We also do focus to some degree on medical costs. And we find that there are substantial reductions in medical costs that benefit primarily insurers, but also, institutions. 00:10:29:22 - 00:10:34:07 David Wagner, Ph.D. So we look at a wide range of outcomes to meet that quintuple aim. 00:10:34:10 - 00:10:45:19 Julie Resnick I love that focus on designing care around the specific needs of kids and their families. So I'd love to hear more about those kids and families that you're serving. Do you have any stories that could bring this to life? 00:10:45:21 - 00:11:08:18 David Wagner, Ph.D. There are more stories than I have time to share. A couple of young people come to mind. Often insurance providers will pay for this intervention after a youth has been hospitalized numerous times and has experienced multiple complications that are really costly. We will sometimes argue that, wouldn't it be great if we actually started investing in these children before they have these costly complications? 00:11:08:18 - 00:11:30:01 David Wagner, Ph.D. And so this is actually one example where an insurer did pay for the program prior to any costly complications. We had a four year old girl who was newly diagnosed with Type One diabetes, who was living with her father, who was experiencing houselessness and who was also in recovery. All of the places that they could stay had people who were using there, which made it difficult for father to stay sober. 00:11:30:05 - 00:11:49:15 David Wagner, Ph.D. And at the same time we couldn't find any shelters that would take in single dads with children. Our interventionists worked closely with dad to get him into needed mental health and recovery services. He was able to find a place that would take them in where nobody was using, and ultimately was able to sort of assess where is social support in this community 00:11:49:15 - 00:12:06:00 David Wagner, Ph.D. and ultimately, when we found that there wasn't social support in the nearby community - but we were able to contact and reach an extended family - we were able to work with the insurance company to help the family access that support and secure housing. And that's one example. You know, there's another example that comes to mind of a kid who was experiencing lots of frequent infections. 00:12:06:00 - 00:12:29:09 David Wagner, Ph.D. The two year old girl who was having multiple line infections. And when the interventionist went out to the home, she noticed that the living conditions were such that you would expect a lot of infections. The family was doing the best they can. Multi-generational family, and numerous family members had the skills to essentially, like, replace the carpeting and the flooring and whatnot, but they didn't have the resources to have the materials to do so. 00:12:29:09 - 00:12:47:03 David Wagner, Ph.D. And so she actually worked with the local hardware store who donated supplies after hearing about the family situation, got those to the family. The family replaced the flooring and was able to replace other parts of the house to improve the living conditions. And next thing you know, this this young child was no longer experiencing these dangerous complications. 00:12:47:05 - 00:13:10:05 Julie Resnick Those are both such powerful stories and I think really go to show how important it is that people have a stable place to sleep at night, that they have access to food. Because if you're worrying about all those basic needs, how can you be worrying or taking care of your own health or your kid's health? I really appreciate how your work ties all those medical and social needs together to really give kids the best care possible. 00:13:10:07 - 00:13:23:23 Julie Resnick Dr. Wagner, thank you so much for sharing your time and your expertise with us. I just really appreciate the work that you do and your commitment to kids in your community, and trying to give them the best shot at a healthy life, now and in the future. 00:13:23:25 - 00:13:26:12 David Wagner, Ph.D. Thank you, Julie, and thank you for your time and excellent questions. 00:13:26:14 - 00:13:28:26 Julie Resnick Thank you so much. 00:13:28:28 - 00:13:37:10 Tom Haederle Thanks for listening to Advancing Health. Please subscribe and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. </details> </div> Sun, 02 Feb 2025 23:07:21 -0600 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Caring for Our Kids: Children's Colorado Is Meeting the Needs of Medically Complex Patients /advancing-health-podcast/2024-10-02-caring-our-kids-childrens-colorado-meeting-needs-medically-complex-patients Some pediatric and adolescent patients are considered to have medical complexity — multiple conditions that require numerous health care service lines. In today's new Caring for Our Kids episode, explore how Children's Hospital Colorado&nbsp;has&nbsp;designed seamless care for medically complex kids and their families.<hr><div></div><div class="raw-html-embed"> <details class="transcript"> <summary> <h2 title="Click here to open/close the transcript."> View Transcript &nbsp; </h2> </summary> 00:00:00:05 - 00:00:28:06 Tom Haederle Every parent wants their child to be healthy. But that is not always the case. Some kids are considered to have medical complexity, multiple conditions that require a lot of health care. Meeting the needs of those kids and their families can be challenging, especially when trying to coordinate care between several providers and specialists. 00:00:28:08 - 00:00:47:28 Tom Haederle Welcome to another episode of Caring for Our Kids, a limited podcast series from Advancing Health. I'm Tom Haederle with AHA communications. Today you'll hear how Children's Hospital Colorado has designed team-based, coordinated care to make care seamless for medically complex kids and their families. 00:00:48:00 - 00:00:48:27 SFX Children playing 00:00:49:04 - 00:00:50:01 SFX Children talking 00:00:50:02 - 00:00:54:04 SFX Children talking 00:00:54:07 - 00:01:17:10 Julia Resnick Having a child is an act of optimism. We go into parenthood with the highest expectations. We imagine them running, jumping. And above all else, we hope that our kids will be born healthy so that they can fulfill all the dreams we have for them. But that dream is not the reality for many families that have children with special medical needs. 00:01:17:12 - 00:01:44:12 Julia Resnick 19% of kids living in the United States, more than 14 million children total, have health care needs that require specialized care. That is where pediatric hospitals come in. The U.S. has over 200 pediatric hospitals that are dedicated to advancing the health of the nation's 73-million children. Welcome to Caring for Our kids. I'm Julia Resnick, director of strategic initiatives at the �� Association. 00:01:44:14 - 00:02:11:25 Julia Resnick In today's episode, we're focusing on caring for children with medical complexity. About 1% of kids are considered to have medical complexity, which means they have multiple severe chronic health conditions resulting in significant health service needs, functional limitations and high health care use. Caregivers of kids with medical complexity often struggle with the fragmentation of their children's medical services. Children's Colorado is aiming to change that. 00:02:11:28 - 00:02:39:19 Julia Resnick They are dedicated to making care seamless and coordinated for medically complex kids and their families through their multidisciplinary clinic located at the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, Colorado. To learn more, I spoke with two leaders from Children's Colorado. Suzy Jaeger is the chief patient experience and access officer. She was joined by Dr. Glenn Furuta, a pediatric gastroenterologist who serves as the section head of pediatric gastroenterology and hepatology. 00:02:39:21 - 00:02:41:07 Julia Resnick Here's Suzy. 00:02:41:10 - 00:03:05:05 Suzy Jaeger We opened our multidisciplinary clinic back in 2015, and this was after we had conducted an exhaustive search around the country, working with other children's hospitals and adult hospitals and trying to figure out what is the best way to care for highly complex patients in a multidisciplinary setting, especially patients who travel a long distance to visit with us and then go back to their own communities. 00:03:05:05 - 00:03:26:11 Suzy Jaeger How can we provide that array of services in a way that's convenient for families? That we are able to provide them with timely access to care, and certainly the latest cutting edge type of care that's based upon evidence-based research. So, we settled on the model that we have in place today. It's about a 24,000 square foot clinic facility. 00:03:26:13 - 00:03:50:00 Suzy Jaeger It includes 26 exam rooms and ten consult rooms. It also includes two large provider teamwork areas, where there are more than 20 workstations in each of those areas, so accommodates a large number of staff. We also have two observation and evaluation rooms. We provide a really nice family lounge to families. They're here for a long time. When they're here for a visit, and it's usually a full day, if not more. 00:03:50:07 - 00:04:14:02 Suzy Jaeger And so we provide some space for them to get away from the clinical setting and relax and be with their families. They also can use that space to interact with other families who are there for similar reasons. And then of course because we're a children's hospital, we have to include play areas. So there's three really nice play areas for kids to be able to utilize, not just our patients, but the siblings that often times will travel with patients for this type of care. 00:04:14:04 - 00:04:33:08 Suzy Jaeger So we really designed this space around trying to provide an optimal way to coordinate care for children that have complex needs. We have 78 different multidisciplinary clinics that currently meet in that space, and in 2023, we provided care to more than 12,500 patients and their families. 00:04:33:10 - 00:04:35:07 Julia Resnick Here's Dr. Faruta 00:04:35:10 - 00:05:15:27 Glenn Furuta, M.D. 2006 I imagined in Boston that we really needed to do better, and how can we take better care of our patients who have a group of diseases called eosinophilic GI diseases? And those patients suffer from not only intestinal inflammation &nbsp;with allergic problems, but food allergies, and they have feeding problems and nutritional problems. If you can imagine someone would need to come in and out to different offices over a number of different visits, 8 to 10 visits, and then have probably more importantly, all of those providers communicate to establish a centralized plan to help take care of that, 00:05:15:27 - 00:05:45:16 Glenn Furuta, M.D. that's challenging. And so when I met with Suzy and others here at the hospital, I was like, this is what I would like to do. And they're like, well, guess what? We're doing that right now. And we have been able to care for patients from 40 states, from four different countries now who come here to receive that kind of care where we can really have an immediate discussion to share the expertise in providing the best care that we can. 00:05:45:18 - 00:05:49:22 Jill Tappert Do you want to try to say that again more clearly, or do you want me to repeat after you? 00:05:49:24 - 00:05:50:21 Abigail Tappert After me. 00:05:50:23 - 00:05:51:12 Jill Tappert Yeah. You sure? 00:05:51:16 - 00:05:52:25 Abigail Tappert I sure. 00:05:52:27 - 00:06:05:29 Julia Resnick This is Abigail Tappert and her mom, Jill. Abigail is now 20 years old with complex medical needs. She's a patient at the multidisciplinary clinic at Children's Colorado. Here's Jill, Abigail's mom. 00:06:06:01 - 00:06:21:17 Jill Tappert Abigail's voice sometimes is harder to understand than others. She wants me to repeat what she said. So Abigail said that she is humorous, courageous, adventurous, and mischievous. 00:06:21:19 - 00:06:30:06 Abigail Tappert I like to do Pokémon Go walks and drives with Geneva and Mom. 00:06:30:09 - 00:06:35:24 Jill Tappert I like to do Pokémon Go walks and drives with Geneva and Mom. 00:06:39:18 - 00:06:44:02 Abigail Tappert I wish everybody had a chance to go to Children’s. 00:06:44:04 - 00:07:07:00 Jill Tappert I wish everybody had a chance to go to Children's. We are family of four from Boulder. So we're fortunate to be able to have just a one hour drive to receive care at Children's Colorado. We've known since Abigail was very young, certainly before grade school, that she didn't seem the same as her peers with autism. There was another layer, but we didn't have the words, we didn't have the vocabulary. 00:07:07:03 - 00:07:27:01 Jill Tappert And then when she was a young teen, her medical status deteriorated. And at the time, we didn't know why. And there were a lot of things happening all at one time. In the beginning of that time period, we had trouble getting the care she needed. No one knew what was going on. No one could see the big picture except me, and I didn't necessarily have all the words in the vocabulary. 00:07:27:03 - 00:07:46:27 Jill Tappert And then Abigail got into the special care clinic here at Children's, and I do not think it's exaggerating to say it was literally life saving. Got a pediatrician at a very high level who was looking at me with all of this - at all the symptoms that were crossing a whole bunch of different disciplines and needed to be looked at together. 00:07:46:29 - 00:08:09:17 Jill Tappert And then she got all of those different specialties, all those different doctors literally in one room. I'll tell you from the patient care perspective, it made all the difference. One of the things that was happening was dysphasia or difficulty swallowing, and that got Abigail to see Dr. Furuta and the diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis. It's quite a mouthful, EOE. 00:08:09:19 - 00:08:33:17 Jill Tappert And then ultimately to be seen in the GEDP multidisciplinary clinic. After her EOE was in remission, she still had a number of symptoms throughout the day, all day. The dysphagia, the difficulty swallowing. And by bringing in those other specialties, the allergist recommended just a regular plain old over-the-counter allergy medication when those symptoms were spiking in the spring and fall. 00:08:33:19 - 00:08:58:05 Jill Tappert Those additional eyes looking at it from a different perspective - that made a significant difference. Along the same lines, having access to a nutritionist and feeding specialist have also made a big difference, both in safety and in her overall nutrition. That pediatrician at the top of that, at the top of the triangle with me trying to see the big picture connecting dots as she always was, was well, have you looked at this yet? 00:08:58:07 - 00:09:25:25 Jill Tappert No, we hadn't. And we pursued a new possibility. And it turned out Abby does have something called POTS: positional orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, which in her case is relatively simple to treat. And when we figured that out and started treating that, Abigail's migraines went away. And that had not been simple to treat. And there's no way we would have figured that out without someone who was doing that team approach, 00:09:25:27 - 00:09:32:06 Jill Tappert looking at all of the things across the different specialties and troubleshooting right beside me. 00:09:32:09 - 00:09:58:01 Julia Resnick All kids deserve the best care, and Children's Colorado has made the investment in designing a system that can meet the needs of even the most medically complex children. By co-locating specialists and building a culture of team-based care, they're improving outcomes and the patient experience for the children and families they serve. Since Doctor Furuta and Suzy have been there from the start, they shed light onto what it takes to get a clinic like this off the ground. 00:09:58:04 - 00:10:24:11 Glenn Furuta, M.D. Every other month, someone comes from somewhere else to visit us to see what we do and how we do it. Before they come, I always tell them, make sure you've had a conversation with your institution because what you're going to see it's...it's really fantastic, but it's going to require some infrastructure and dedication. One of the things that I thought about when we were starting this was you need to have institutional commitment and you need to have leadership. 00:10:24:13 - 00:10:57:15 Glenn Furuta, M.D. And those two things together really will help make this happen. It's just kind of dreamlike, to be honest, because it's exactly what I've always thought about wanting to do, to make sure that we could serve patients in a way that they had the expertise present and available, that the providers themselves were able to feel fulfilled in what they're doing in a way they had not been able to do before, that we're able to have that immediate impact but then also create some really innovative research studies that can be impactful afterwards also. 00:10:57:15 - 00:11:08:22 Glenn Furuta, M.D. So it's not just the four walls of Children's. We want to spread care outside of here, too, in a way that's going to be impactful other places. It's yeah, exactly what I had always wanted to do. 00:11:08:24 - 00:11:31:09 Suzy Jaeger If you think about this from a patient family perspective, it's so much better. The outcomes are so much better. The costs are reduced. The amount of time that they have to spend in the hospital is reduced. It provides the primary care physician who's going to be responsible for this child once they return home with the comprehensive plan, detailed information about the results of the consult and the next steps and so forth. 00:11:31:09 - 00:11:53:03 Suzy Jaeger So, I mean, it's the kind of program that may not make the most sense financially, but from the perspective of patient family experience, it clearly is the right approach to take. And it also requires, you know, a big commitment, 24,000 square feet. We wish we had more space. We're lucky we have 24,000. We're making, good use of every inch of that space. 00:11:53:03 - 00:12:16:00 Suzy Jaeger But that's a big commitment of space within our facility to, dedicate to this type of care. But we think it's the right thing to do, and we continue to hear from patients and families and their providers out in the community how much they appreciate and value the service, so that's our guiding light. And, that is what will keep us committed to continuing to provide these types of services well into the future. 00:12:16:02 - 00:12:41:29 Julia Resnick Thank you to Suzy Jaeger and Dr. Glenn Furuta for your efforts to provide the highest quality team-based care for medically complex kids. And to Abigail and Jill Tappert, so appreciate you sharing your family's story with us. AHA's growing library of resources on child and adolescent health can be found at aha.org/mch. 00:12:42:01 - 00:12:50:13 Tom Haederle Thanks for listening to Advancing Health. Please subscribe and rate us five stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. </details> </div> Tue, 01 Oct 2024 23:29:22 -0500 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Child and Adolescent Health: Resources from the Field /child-and-adolescent-health-resources-field <h1 class="repository-intro">Child and Adolescent Health: Resources from the Field</h1>Along with hospitals and health care system, communities and stakeholders are essential partners in creating a lasting impact on the health of children and adolescents.These resources from expert professional groups can help hospitals and health care systems optimize child and adolescent safety and outcomes. For tools and resources on child and adolescent mental health, visit AHA's <a href="/child-and-adolescent-mental-health">Child and Adolescent Mental Health</a> webpage.&nbsp; Wed, 25 Sep 2024 11:42:48 -0500 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Spanish-Speaking Pediatric Clinic Boosts Health Care Access /role-hospitals-childrens-hospital-colorado-spanish-speaking-pediatric-clinic-boosts-health-care-access <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><img src="/sites/default/files/2024-09/ths-colorado-childrens-spanish-language-2-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Colorado Childrens Hospital. Dr. Diaz-Miron talks with a male teen in a medical exam room" width="700" height="532"></div>Grasping the doctor’s explanation of a necessary treatment or medical procedure for a child can be intimidating for their parents, even more so when it’s not delivered in their primary language."I know firsthand it can be challenging to make that jump from one language to the other, especially when you're dealing with kids and when you're dealing with a stressful situation," says Jose Diaz-Mirón, M.D., explaining why he started Children's Hospital Colorado's Clínica de Cirugía Pediátrica — Pediatric Surgery Clinic — the first of its kind in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region, created for families and patients who speak little to no English to help them navigate through the challenging health care system.According to the 2020 census, nearly 30% of Denver area residents identify as Hispanic. Statewide, the figure is 22%, creating an enormous need for medical care services that can be explained and delivered in Spanish and removing a layer of stress for parents and families.Not understanding medical terms can seriously impact the quality and access to medical care. Dr. Diaz-Mirón clinic has seen the need for services grow quickly, and many families have expressed their gratitude for the availability of surgical expertise, consultations and medical guidance delivered in their primary language.To attend the clinic, patients must be referred by their doctor at Children's Hospital Colorado or by their family's physician.<a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.childrenscolorado.org/doctors-and-departments/departments/pediatric-surgery/spanish-speaking-surgery-clinic/" target="_blank">LEARN MORE</a>&nbsp;</div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/community-benefit">Benefiting Communities</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 12 Sep 2024 15:33:21 -0500 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Oklahoma hospital introduces new training to better serve patients with autism /role-hospitals-mercy-hospital-oklahoma-city-introduces-new-training-better-serve-patients-autism <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-5"><img src="/sites/default/files/2024-09/ths-mercy-ok-autism-ed-700x532.jpg" data-entity-uuid data-entity-type="file" alt="Mercy Hospital. A doctor offers a teddy bear to a little girl and her parents" width="700" height="532" class="align-left"></div>A trip to the hospital emergency department can be overwhelming for anyone, but for individuals with autism, the stress can be significantly heightened.Mercy Hospital has recently begun training its ED staff to enhance their ability to care for patients with autism. The training focuses on understanding sensory overload and implementing effective interventions, including the use of sensory kits, according to Chandee Kott, program director at the Autism Foundation of Oklahoma.Recognizing that sensory overload can be a significant issue for individuals with autism, the staff at Mercy are now better equipped to offer appropriate interventions and support. "We discuss how to identify sensory overload and effectively use a sensory kit to assist patients," explained Chandee Kott, program director at the Autism Foundation of Oklahoma.Kott emphasized the importance of recognizing sensory sensitivities in patients with autism, whether it is due to loud noises, crowded spaces or harsh lighting. "If a patient comes in experiencing these challenges, it's vital for health care staff to notice and take steps to alleviate their discomfort," Kott said.This new training initiative aims to make ED visits less daunting for patients with autism. Mercy Hospital is leading the way as the first hospital in Oklahoma to implement this specialized training for its staff.The Autism Foundation of Oklahoma spearheaded the training, which was inspired by a nurse at Mercy who is also the mother of a 6-year-old autistic boy."As a parent, I know how stressful even a routine doctor's appointment can be for my son. An emergency room visit is exponentially more difficult because we can’t take the time to calm him down," said Shannon Montgomery, an ED nurse at Mercy Hospital.Montgomery hopes that increasing awareness and understanding of autism within the health care system will make a significant difference for children like her son. She emphasized the importance of expanding this knowledge across the health care field to better support patients with autism and their families.<a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://www.koco.com/article/oklahoma-mercy-autism-foundation-partnership/46873493">LEARN MORE</a></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/advocacy/access-and-health-coverage">Access to Care</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Thu, 05 Sep 2024 11:16:08 -0500 Child and Adolescent Mental Health Opening a World of Possibilities for Those on the Autism Spectrum /role-hospitals-opening-world-possibilities-those-autism-spectrum <div class="container"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-9"><div class="row"><div class="col-md-4"><img src="/sites/default/files/2024-08/ths-RWJBarnabas-PediatricAutism-700x532.jpg" alt="Opening a World of Possibilities for Those on the Autism Spectrum" width="700" height="532"></div>Autism is a chronic condition that can be challenging to treat because there is no cure and no one-size-fits-all treatment. Children’s Specialized Hospital, a RWJBarnabas health facility with locations in New Jersey, has opened a new Autism Center of Excellence to help patients and their families navigate the treatment process.The Center provides state-of-the-art services, training, advocacy and research to support individuals with autism. It is not a physical location, but instead offers an all-encompassing approach to care implemented at sites across the state.The new center’s medical services include developmental behavioral pediatrics, primary care, psychiatry and system partners. Patients can receive therapy for a range of services, including early intervention, psychology, and speech and feeding therapy, among others.The center also offers training for the community to highlight the needs and strengths of individuals with autism and training for professionals to increase access to diagnosis and support.Dr. Malia Beckwith, section chief of developmental behavioral pediatrics at CSH, said the integrated approach sets up patients for success “from diagnosis to intervention and beyond.”<a class="btn btn-primary" href="https://njbiz.com/childrens-specialized-hospital-launches-enhanced-autism-program/" target="_blank" title="NJBIZ: Children’s Specialized Hospital launches enhanced autism program">LEARN MORE</a></div></div><div class="col-md-3"><div><h4>Resources on the Role of Hospitals</h4><ul><li><a href="/center/population-health">Improving Health and Wellness</a></li><li><a href="/roleofhospitals">All Case Studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div></div> Mon, 19 Aug 2024 11:26:02 -0500 Child and Adolescent Mental Health