Starting psychotropic medications: engaging patients and families in the proc...
In the primary care setting, children often present with acute psychiatric symptoms that greatly impair their functioning or put them at risk of harm to self or others. Pediatric clinicians may consider prescribing psychotropic medication in addition to therapeutic interventions to stabilize a mental health condition (1). However, parents and patients may have concerns about […]
When Wait Times Are Long: Brief Mental Health Interventions
For many Illinois families, mental health services are difficult to access and wait times are long. During this season last year, 40% of Illinois behavioral health centers had stopped accepting new patients with over 9,300 individuals on waiting lists for behavioral health services, according to a Chicago Tribune article. Primary care providers are in a key position to […]
Caring for pediatric patients following psychiatric hospitalization
Follow-up care after psychiatric hospitalization improves outcomes and prevents readmission Children and adolescents who have been discharged should receive follow-up with a mental health provider within 30 days and ideally within 7 days. Unfortunately, only 54% of Illinois minors covered by Medicaid receive this recommended follow-up(1). Often discharge plans will include an appointment with […]
When a patient faces school expulsion: what’s a PCP to do?
Welcome to fall! It’s that time of year again when your pediatric patients may require extra support at school for their behavioral health needs. We would like to touch on some important educational laws and resources to help you advocate for your school-aged patients who may be experiencing challenging school behavior. If your pediatric patient […]
Suicide Ideation: Interventions
Primary care providers play an important role in identifying youth at risk of suicide by using evidence-based screening and risk-assessment tools. Suicide prevention also includes appropriate intervention. The following recommendations for a comprehensive approach can be implemented into your practice. Creating a safety plan can be proactive step or an acute intervention. An essential component […]
Suicide Awareness and Screening
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. How can primary care providers make a difference and save lives? By asking, listening, safety planning and intervening with check-ins and connections. Now more than ever it is important to be part of the solution. Visit our website for more information. Alarmingly, suicide rates have steadily increased 30% between […]
Pediatric Grief
Many of the children and families seen in our offices have faced significant grief and loss over the past few years. It’s been estimated that in the United States one child loses a parent or caregiver for every four COVID-19 related deaths*. Children of racial and ethnic minority groups have been disproportionately impacted by caregiver […]
Burnout in Healthcare Professionals
As the pandemic lingers, healthcare professionals are increasingly burned out, anxious, depressed, and traumatized. According to a Coping with Covid Study in 2020 of over nine thousand physicians across medical disciplines, 50% were burnt out. More recent surveys have even more dire results (1). Studies show that advanced practice registered nurses are experiencing similar levels […]
Talking to children when the news is frightening
As healthcare providers dedicated to the well-being of children and families, collectively we sit with feelings of anguish and disbelief at the recent violent events in the national spotlight. We know that children are aware, listening and watching closely. They may experience sadness, anxiety, grief, helplessness or anger. The way in which adults in a […]
Best Practices for Treating Refugee and Immigrant Populations
As Illinois prepares to accept Ukrainian Refugees, now is the time to learn more about this population’s unique mental health care needs. Ideally, refugees will have access to a wide array of social, psychiatric, and medical programs when they arrive. But that is rarely the case due to limited resources and other barriers (Rees et al., […]
