2015 APHA Annual Meeting & Expo

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Recorded Annual Meeting Presentations (RAMP) are now available for purchase.
Only $90 for presenters, $140 for registered attendees and $200 for non-attendees.

Online Program

334338
Benefits of Integrating Mental and Behavioral Health in Primary Care Clinics for Underserved Young Children and Families


Tuesday, November 3, 2015 : 9:15 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

Joy Osofsky, Ph.D., Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: To describe results from a program to integrate mental and behavioral health services in rural, underserved primary care settings in order to outreach to young children and their families living in communities heavily impacted by the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill. This project created community, school, and primary care clinic based programs to provide services and increase awareness of mental and behavioral health issues. This study covers the first two years of providing consultations, evaluations, and services for children and adolescents referred for behavioral health treatment in primary care settings. During this time period, the cohort of children age 6 and younger were 20% of all children and adolescents served by the project.

Methods:  Parents of children age 6 and younger completed measures at intake designed to assess behavioral and emotional problems. Parents received a telephone follow-up at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 18 months.

Results: Findings from the initial 100 young children indicate diverse presenting problems including: concerns about developmental delays; relationship problems; behavior problems; attentional difficulties; concerns about possible autism spectrum disorders; and behavioral changes following family problems. Parental/caregiver reports on follow-up demonstrate progressive and sustained improvement in emotional and behavior problems as well as high satisfaction with accessibility and quality of services.

Implications: Results show that integrating behavioral health services in primary care clinics addresses the importance of recognizing social-emotional and relationship-based needs in families and can yield promising results. Identifying underserved and under-identified young children and families and providing culturally sensitive behavioral health services collaboratively with health services in primary care settings is effective and important for prevention and intervention with implications for public policy.

Learning Areas:

Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education
Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines

Learning Objectives:
Describe ways to integrate behavioral health services in primary care settings to meet the needs of young children and their families.

Keyword(s): Mental Health, Child/Adolescent Mental Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Professor of Pediatrics and Psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. She is co-PI for the Mental and Behavioral Capacity Project in Louisiana designed to integrate mental and behavioral health services in primary care clinics and schools. She is also Director of the LSUHSC Harris Center for Infant Mental Health and has been working in this field for over two decades.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 4051.0: Innovative Directions for Recognizing and Meeting the Needs of Young Children and Families (Organized in Collaboration with the Mental Health Section)