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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Therese L. Mathews Mathews, MSN, Joseph Evans, PhD, Jodi Polaha, PhD, and Rachel J. Valleley, PhD. Psychology Department, University of Nebraska Medical Center/Munroe-Meyer Institute, 985450 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-5450, 402-559-5757, jrmathew@unmc.edu

Behavioral health concerns are increasingly common in pediatric primary care. Rural physicians, already taxed by shortages of physicians, are faced with this added burden, and there is evidence that they struggle to respond effectively. This paper will present a collaborative model of behavioral health service delivery, based on co-location of behavioral health providers in primary care practices. Since 1997, the Department of Pediatric Psychology at the Munroe-Meyer Institute (MMI), University of Nebraska Medical Center has developed a network of 14 co-located, collaborative behavioral health clinics (BHCs) across the entire state of Nebraska. Ten of these clinics, accounting for over 90% of the patients seen, are located in rural communities designated as “mental health professional shortage areas”. In 2004, the program initiated an adjunct Pediatric Behavioral Telehealth Clinic to further extend the aims of this program. An important mission of the Pediatric Behavioral Outreach Program is to train and retain qualified providers for rural service. Since July 2001, the program has helped train 79 trainees in a variety of fields: psychiatric nurse specialists, social work students, marriage and family therapy students, undergraduate psychology students, masters counseling/school psychology students, pre-doctoral interns, and postdoctoral fellows. A total of 54% of its trainees now work in rural areas after graduation. Guidelines for replicating this model will be presented.

Learning Objectives: