Collaborative Training Efforts with Pediatric Providers in Addressing Mental Health Problems in Primary Care

The impact of autism-related training programs on physician knowledge, self-efficacy, and practice behavior: A systematic review

LAY ABSTRACT

Autism spectrum disorder is estimated to impact 1.5 million children and almost 5.5 million adults. However, most physicians do not receive training on how to provide care to this increasingly large group of people. After performing a systematic review of the literature and screening over 4,500 unique articles focused on the effectiveness of autism-specific training programs designed for physicians and physician trainees, we determined that 17 studies met the pre-determined criteria for inclusion in this systematic review. The results reported by these studies suggest that by completing specialized training programs related to autism, physicians were more knowledgeable on topics related to the condition, more confident in their ability to provide care to autistic individuals, and more likely to screen their patients for autism spectrum disorder. However, further studies with higher quality data are needed to validate these findings and provide additional insight on the ability of these programs to improve physician behavior and patient outcomes. We are therefore advocating that medical educators develop and evaluate specialized autism training programs with an increased focus on improving physician behavior related to all aspects of providing care to autistic people.

Using Effective Public Private Collaboration to Advance Integrated Care

Integrated mental health services within health care settings have many benefits; however, several key barriers pose challenges to fully implemented and coordinated care. Collaborative, multistakeholder efforts, such as health networks, have the potential to overcome prevalent obstacles and to accelerate the dissemination of innovative clinical strategies. In addition to engaging clinical experts, efforts should also include the perspectives of families and communities, a grounding in data and evaluation, and a focus on policy and advocacy. This article describes how one community, Washington, DC, implemented a health network to improve the integration of mental health services into pediatric primary care.