scholarly journals Engaging Parents and Health Care Providers to Inform Development of a Behavioral Intervention Technology to Promote Pediatric Behavioral Health: Mixed Methods Study (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean M. O'Dell ◽  
Heidi R Fisher ◽  
Victoria Schlieder ◽  
Tracey Klinger ◽  
Rachel L Kininger ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Despite innovations to integrate behavioral health practitioners in primary care settings and online adaptations of effective parenting programs, access to care gaps persist for youth and families in need. Behavioral intervention technologies (BITs) represent a modality for targeted prevention with promise for transforming primary care behavioral health by empowering parents to take charge of their child’s behavioral health care. In order to realize the potential of BITs, research is needed to understand parental needs in a BIT, as well as the status quo of parent self-help and parent-provider collaboration to identify and address behavioral health challenges. OBJECTIVE Engage parents and health care providers to better understand unmet needs and current practices to inform continued development of a BIT for parents to address common behavioral health challenges. METHODS We conducted a convergence validation mixed methods study in which parent quantitative surveys (N=385) on preferences and current practices related to behavioral health themes to be addressed in a BIT were integrated with focus group interview data on internal and external contextual factors contributing to parental unmet needs and current practices with 48 health care stakeholders in 9 child-serving clinics within a large, predominantly rural health system. We integrated these data using joint displays and synthesized areas of confirmation, expansion, and discordance between parents and health care stakeholders. RESULTS Parents frequently endorsed about half of the available themes in their “top 3”, indicating that BITs may not be the preferred modality for all targeted prevention. Additionally, parents also frequently endorsed themes that were not related to child psychopathology (e.g., parenting stress and family communication), indicating parents are interested in guidance on parenting beyond challenging child behavior. Health care stakeholders indicated that an online platform aligns with how parents already seek behavioral health guidance and suggested that a BIT may connect families with evidence-based guidance sooner. We identified areas of convergence related to overt behavior problems (e.g., disruptive behavior, nutrition and eating), and areas of divergence related to internalizing problems and cross-cutting issues that may be more difficult for health care providers to detect. Data integration helped to expand our understanding with regard to factors that may lead to more effective parent-provider partnerships, including the impact of limited time pressure office visits and a deeper understanding of how unmitigated parenting stress interrelates with qualities of parent help-seeking behavior. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide a rich understanding of the complexity involved in meeting parents’ needs for behavioral health guidance in a primary care setting using BITs. Further triangulation of these findings in user testing studies for BIT prototypes is needed to refine our understanding of how to successfully develop and implement an effective BIT to guide parents in taking charge of their child’s behavioral health care. CLINICALTRIAL N/A

Author(s):  
Shannon E. McCaslin ◽  
Margaret-Anne Mackintosh ◽  
Andrew Chang ◽  
Abbie J. B. Sanborn ◽  
Craig S. Rosen

2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 281-295
Author(s):  
B Christopher Frueh ◽  
Alok Madan ◽  
J Christopher Fowler ◽  
Sasha Stomberg ◽  
Major Bradshaw ◽  
...  

Objective U.S. military special operation forces represent the most elite units of the U.S. Armed Forces. Their selection is highly competitive, and over the course of their service careers, they experience intensive operational training and combat deployment cycles. Yet, little is known about the health-care needs of this unique population. Method Professional consultations with over 50 special operation forces operators (and many spouses or girlfriends) over the past 6 years created a naturalistic, observational base of knowledge that allowed our team to identify a unique pattern of interrelated medical and behavioral health-care needs. Results We identified a consistent pattern of health-care difficulties within the special operation forces community that we and other special operation forces health-care providers have termed “Operator Syndrome.” This includes interrelated health and functional impairments including traumatic brain injury effects; endocrine dysfunction; sleep disturbance; obstructive sleep apnea; chronic joint/back pain, orthopedic problems, and headaches; substance abuse; depression and suicide; anger; worry, rumination, and stress reactivity; marital, family, and community dysfunction; problems with sexual health and intimacy; being “on guard” or hypervigilant; memory, concentration, and cognitive impairments; vestibular and vision impairments; challenges of the transition from military to civilian life; and common existential issues. Conclusions “Operator Syndrome” may be understood as the natural consequences of an extraordinarily high allostatic load; the accumulation of physiological, neural, and neuroendocrine responses resulting from the prolonged chronic stress; and physical demands of a career with the military special forces. Clinical research and comprehensive, intensive immersion programs are needed to meet the unique needs of this community.


2006 ◽  
Vol 67 (S1) ◽  
pp. S14-S29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Brauer ◽  
Linda Dietrich ◽  
Bridget Davidson ◽  

Purpose: A modified Delphi process was used to identify key features of interdisciplinary nutrition services, including provider roles and responsibilities for Ontario Family Health Networks (FHNs), a family physician-based type of primary care. Methods: Twenty-three representatives from interested professional organizations, including three FHN demonstration sites, completed a modified Delphi process. Participants reviewed evidence from a systematic literature review, a patient survey, a costing analysis, and key informant interview results before undertaking the Delphi process. Statements describing various options for services were developed at an in-person meeting, which was followed by two rounds of e-mail questionnaires. Teleconference discussions were held between rounds. Results: An interdisciplinary model with differing and complementary roles for health care providers emerged from the process. Additional key features addressing screening for nutrition problems, health promotion and disease prevention, team collaboration, planning and evaluation, administrative support, access to care, and medical directives/delegated acts were identified. Under the proposed model, the registered dietitian is the team member responsible for managing all aspects of nutrition services, from needs assessment to program delivery, as well as for supporting all providers’ nutrition services. Conclusions: The proposed interdisciplinary nutrition services model merits evaluation of cost, effectiveness, applicability, and sustainability in team-based primary care service settings.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e1846844
Author(s):  
Anwen Zhang ◽  
Zlatko Nikoloski ◽  
Sarah Averi Albala ◽  
Winnie Yip ◽  
Jin Xu ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Sarah Stalder ◽  
Aimee Techau ◽  
Jenny Hamilton ◽  
Carlo Caballero ◽  
Mary Weber ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND: The specific aims of this project were to create a fully integrated, nurse-led model of a psychiatric nurse practitioner and behavioral health care team within primary care to facilitate (1) patients receiving an appropriate level of care and (2) care team members performing at the top of their scope of practice. METHOD: The guiding model for process implementation was Rapid Cycle Quality Improvement. Three task forces were established to develop interventions in the areas of Roles and Responsibilities, Training and Implementation, and the electronic health record. INTERVENTION: The four interventions that emerged from these task forces were (1) the establishment of patient tiers based on diagnosis, medications, and risk assessment; (2) the creation of process maps to engage care team members; (3) just-in-time education regarding psychiatric medication management for primary care providers; and (4) use of a registry to track patients. RESULTS: The process measures of referrals to the psychiatric care team and psychiatric assessment intakes performed as expected. Both measures were higher at the onset of the project and lower 1 year later. The outcome indicator, number of case reviews, increased dramatically over time. CONCLUSIONS: For psychiatric nurse practitioners, this quality improvement effort provides evidence that a consultative role can be effective in supporting primary care providers. Through providing education, establishing patient tiers, and establishing an effective workflow, more patients may have access to psychiatric services.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 989-993
Author(s):  
Andrew Thomas ◽  
Annie Thomas

Acute and chronic digestive diseases are causing increased burden to patients and are increasing the United States health care spending. The purpose of this case report was to present how nonconfirmatory and conflicting diagnoses led to increased burden and suffering for a patient thus affecting quality of life. There were many physician visits and multiple tests performed on the patient. However, the primary care physician and specialists could not reach a confirmatory diagnosis. The treatment plans did not offer relief of symptoms, and the patient continues to experience digestive symptoms, enduring this burden for over 2 years. The central theme of this paper is to inform health care providers the importance of utilizing evidence-based primary care specialist collaboration models for better digestive disease outcomes. Consistent with patient’s experience, the authors propose to pilot/adopt the integrative health care approaches that are proven effective for treating digestive diseases.


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