Scientists and medical experts worldwide rallied together to come up with a vaccination — or two or three — to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The result was a dramatic reduction in cases and deaths over time.
However, there is an equally damning disease that has been swept into hiding for decades: mental health disorders. And the recent pandemic only increased the problem exponentially, with one segment suffering in particular — children.
In a world even adults were struggling to understand, children were thrown into disarray with masks, social distancing, virtual classes and general chaos.
In fact, “early in the pandemic, the proportion of mental health-related emergency room visits increased 24% among children ages 5 to 11 and 31% among adolescents ages 12 to 17,” according to Children’s Health in Dallas. And the rate of pediatric emergency room visits for suicide is now double pre-pandemic levels, it adds.
“Our children are in a mental health care crisis, and it’s time to think differently about how we can address their needs as early as possible,” said Children’s Health pediatric psychiatrist and UT Southwestern Medical Center assistant professor Dr. Sabrina Browne.
Fortunately, nearly 80% of pediatric mental health conditions are only mild to moderate and are treatable in a primary care setting — if physicians have the proper tools and support. In an effort to make sure they do, Children’s Health has launched an initiative to provide such support before these cases are elevated to emergency room status.
In collaboration with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute — a non-partisan policy and research organization — the groundbreaking, Children’s Health-led pediatric mental health initiative will enable “pediatric primary care providers to be trained to identify and treat children and youth with mild-to-moderate mental health conditions in their daily practices, with an initial focus on depression, anxiety and substance abuse.”
Thanks to the lead donors (The Crystal Charity Ball, Hamon Charitable Foundation, The Constantin Foundation Inc. and Kozmetsky Family Foundation) providing $27M in charitable contributions to date, “the core of the pediatric mental health initiative will be training offered online and in-person at a Children’s Health primary care clinic, the first in the nation to serve as a learning laboratory and best-in-class provider of pediatric integrated care.”
According to Children’s Medical Center Foundation President Brent Christopher, “Donors have rallied generously to make this initiative possible. As the initiative grows and more physicians in our community are trained, that ongoing support will continue to be vital. Donors are encouraged to reach out for more information about opportunities to make life better for children by meeting their mental and behavioral health needs.”
The effort will be based temporarily at Children’s Health Specialty Center DeSoto before relocating eventually to the Reimagine RedBird development in southern Dallas.
As Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute President/CEO Andy Keller explained, “By empowering community physicians with training and concrete support, we can reach children in weeks rather than years, beginning to help them and their families as soon as symptoms first emerge.”
* Graphic courtesy of Children's Medical Center Foundation