From: LPaul@AAP.ORG

To: <IHSIG@LISTSERV.AAP.ORG>

Date: Thu, Mar 2, 2006 10:55 AM

Subject: Re: rural mental health

My name is Linda Paul and I staff the AAP's Task Force on Mental Health (TFOMH) and Improving Mental Health in Primary Care Through Access, Collaboration, and Treatment (IMPACT) grant. I, too, have been intrigued by the e‑mail discussion on this listserv.

There are many activities that the Task Force on Mental Health and the IMPACT grant are working on and I wanted to share some of them with you. The IMPACT Project has 3 goals: 1) Enhance pediatricians' and other primary care professionals' ability to screen, diagnose, and treat children with mental health disorders, 2) Strengthen collaborative partnerships between pediatricians and child mental health specialists to enhance the delivery of mental health care to children, and 3) Increase the number of children from minority populations who seek early mental health treatment. Through this effort, we have the following activities planned:

· Develop continuing medical education teleconferences or videoconferences on evidence‑based mental health practices.

· Coordinate presentations by mental health experts at AAP chapter and district meetings.

· Develop and monitor an electronic discussion forum for pediatricians and other primary care professionals to discuss the care of children with mental health disorders in the medical home.

· Provide training to 5 pilot practices on how to implement the AAP mental health tool kit.

· Promote and disseminate educational material on state Early Intervention programs and 211 systems.

· Collaborate with national primary care organizations and with mental health specialist organizations to develop and endorse models of

· collaborative practice that can be utilized in communities with limited mental health resources.

· Create and disseminate an AAP chapter resource guide to assist chapters in establishing meaningful state‑level partnerships. Include with this guide will be a coding fact sheet related to mental health.

· Provide resources and technical assistance to at least 3 select states that do not have an operational state mental health plan.

· Facilitate culturally diverse parent and youth focus groups in order to identify barriers to seeking and engaging in mental health treatment in primary care settings.

· Develop educational material and public service announcements emphasizing the importance of early mental health care and the primary care professional's role in providing this care.

The main activities of the TFOMH are to develop a tool kit to assist primary care pediatricians with the tools and skills needed to screen, diagnose, and treat mental health conditions and to develop CME/training opportunities (both online and face‑to‑face) to give pediatricians the knowledge and skills to address mental health conditions within the medical home. We are collaborating with many organizations on this effort including a diverse range of mental health professionals.

The Task Force also has developed an "Issue Paper" to highlight concerns of the TFOMH and AAP membership. It is an iterative document, serving to ensure that as many identified areas as possible are addressed and to coordinate related activities. I have shared this paper with Sunnah Kim for discussion with the SIG, the Committee on Native American Child Health, and other related groups. I look forward to receiving feedback related to rural health and Indian health issues.

Thank you again for a wonderful discussion. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. My contact information is listed below.

Best regards,

Linda B. Paul, MPH

Manager, Mental Health Initiatives

Phone: 847/434‑7787