INTEGRATED PSYCHOLOGICAL SERVICES IN PEDIATRIC PRIMARY CARE: A PROGRAM EVALUATION

Abstract

Many children and youth experience emotional and/or behavioral health difficulties and lack appropriate access to care. Access to care limitations are particularly relevant to rural populations such as Mississippi. Integrated care models could serve as an innovative solution to increasing access to care for children and youth. In particular, the Three World View model of integrated care asserts that attention should be given to the clinical world (i.e., provision of evidence based services), operational world (i.e., charting, scheduling, referrals, etc.), and the financial world (i.e., funding and reimbursement). The current study utilized program evaluation tools to develop and evaluate a new integrated care model with particular attention process related factors across all three worlds. One pediatric primary care clinic in rural Mississippi participated in the study, which included hiring a half-time psychology doctoral practicum student. The development phase resulted in an organized logic model showing program components and measurement plan. Additionally, a modular manual for single-session interventions in integrated care was created during this phase. Evaluation results suggested that this model was successful in many clinical, operational, and financial characteristics. The emphasis on process variables contributes not only to the literature in integrated care but could also greatly assist practices that are interested in implementing an integrated care program

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