Children's Hospitals Today - Spring 2022 - 29

BEHAVIORAL HEALTH / FEATURE
left their roles after the last two years
and are trying to figure out what to do
next. " What if we built a mental health
service corps? " Liaw proposed. " What
if we took veterans, teachers, police
officers and coaches and trained them
in evidence-based practices for early
identification, screening and triage
referrals? Let them speak with families
about mental health issues and
stigma. There are many people we
could be tapping into. "
Technology aids
communication
Communication between providers,
families and patients is critically important
to delivering behavioral health
care, and technology can make efforts
even more
effective. For
example,
children and families could find themselves
in an emergency department
that is not equipped to care for children,
and the providers may be unsure
of how to manage a child or teen in a
mental health crisis. Akron Children's
is examining how to use telehealth to
support these providers. " We're considering
using virtual consultations
and providing an assessment to determine
whether youths need to come to
Akron Children's for admission or if
they could be referred to local services
within the community, " Straight says.
At UMCH, a newly built behavioral
health inpatient unit and its creative
design introduced new technology for
care teams, changing how they communicate
with each other and with
families. The unit opened in summer
2021, and Edwards says it's the first in
Maryland to be designed both architecturally
and programmatically to deliver
trauma-informed care. With no nursing
station, the goal is to maximize staff interactions
with patients and eliminate
multitasking. " Patients shouldn't have
to know about how many notes you
need to capture or that there's a phone
call or someone is trying to get in touch
with you, " Edwards said. " They should
be able to see that you're fully there for
them at that time. "
When nurses need to focus on adminKEY
LESSONS
3 areas of
expanding care
Here are the key areas
children's hospitals are focusing
on as they work to expand
pediatric behavioral and mental
health care.
1. SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS
Nurses visit schools for inperson
screenings.
Nurses across multiple school
sites connect via telehealth to
consult with each other.
Transition specialists attend
school meetings to support
students, their families and
school staff.
2. EXTENDING THE
WORKFORCE
Continuing education
programs train teachers on
trauma-informed strategies.
In-class counselors
collaborate with teachers
on managing classroom
behaviors.
Nontraditional roles and
retirees could extend the
mental health service corp.
3. TECHNOLOGY AND
COMMUNICATION
Children's hospitals consult
virtually with other hospitals
and health systems.
Facility design maximizes
interactions with patients
and reduces the need for
staff to multitask.
Providers leverage various
workspaces and devices to
collaborate with each other.
istrative tasks, they leave the patient
care area and settle in work rooms that
are set up for phone calls, documentation
needs and other tasks. The inspiration
came from Disney's live shows and
characters who are always in character
when they are around a guest. When
nurses are " onstage, " they're fully present
with patients. When nurses are
" offstage, " they're able to shift and accomplish
other tasks.
Edwards says this new design emphasized
the importance of technology.
" Because we don't have a nurse's
station, we had to figure out how to
best communicate, " she says. " We have
cell phones with secure text messaging,
but we have to learn how to do that
at the right time. And there have been
learning curves with using the different
laptops and handheld devices. "
Refining a system
COVID-19 and its effects have played
an important role in bringing to the
forefront the conversation among
health care leaders, legislators, communities
and individual households
about
improving the pediatric behavioral
health system. The last two
years have amplified the need and
highlighted the vulnerabilities of the
current system. At its core, this is a
system issue. For Edwards, the good
news is once kids find care, the right
strategies and evidence-based practices
are in place to help. " We have
good mental health treatment for
youth, and it works, " says Edwards.
" The systems can make it challenging
to find that treatment. There are barriers
including transportation, insurance,
a limited number of specifically
trained behavioral health providers.
But once patients can get treatment,
we have it, and it helps. "
Send questions or comments to
magazine@childrenshospitals.org.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Spring 2022
29
Children's Hospitals Today - Spring 2022

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