752 - Care Coordination Around Mental Health Between Pediatric Healthcare Providers and K-12 School Staff: A Scoping Review

Publication Number: 752.4145

Michael Harries, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Elizabeth N. Laska, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Sanjana Shankar, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, South Barrington, IL, United States; Andrea J. Fawcett, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Anna Volerman, University of Chicago Division of the Biological Sciences The Pritzker School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States; Selina Varma Thomas, Northwestern University The Feinberg School of Medicine, Wheaton, IL, United States

Background: One in six children are diagnosed with a mental health disorder. Primary care pediatricians are at the forefront of mental health care, yet have limited time to address mental health concerns and few places to refer given a shortage of specialized pediatric mental health providers. The school environment, where children spend much of their day, is another place to positively impact child health. Increased communication and care coordination between school staff and healthcare providers is key to support youth mental health, but best practices for successful care coordination are relatively unknown.

Objective: This scoping review aims to determine if care coordination of mental health conditions between healthcare providers and K-12 school staff in the United States (U.S.) is effective in improving youth mental health outcomes. A secondary aim is to understand what intervention components promote or hinder care coordination.

Design/Methods: Our scoping review was conducted according to PRISMA-ScR standards using PubMed, Ovid Medline, CINAHL, ERIC, PsycINFO, Google Scholar, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library for articles published in English between 1987-2024. Study inclusion criteria were: 1) took place in the U.S., 2) examined communication between pediatric healthcare provider(s) working outside the school and K-12 school staff member(s), 3) purpose of communication was to advance the mental health of an individual student, and 4) included data on the impact of the communication on the student. Studies underwent title and abstract review, followed by full text review. Data was extracted from included articles about study design, student age, school/healthcare provider location, communication mode/frequency/barriers, outcomes, and funding.

Results: Of 3,482 unique articles that underwent title and abstract review, 67 articles received full text review, and ten studies met all criteria. Five studies looked at ADD/ADHD, four at mental health, and one at suicidality. Student age, school location, and mode/frequency of communication varied widely. Nine studies found care coordination led to positive student outcomes, including improved mental health symptoms and disease identification. Five studies found care coordination improved efficiency in mental health care. The most commonly noted barriers to effective care coordination included lack of time, lack of funding, and privacy laws.

Conclusion(s): Care coordination between school staff and healthcare providers for mental health conditions can be an effective tool in improving student health outcomes.

Figure 1: PRISMA Flow Diagram
Figure 1.pdf

Table 1. Characteristics and outcomes of included studies
Table 1.pdf

Figure 1: PRISMA Flow Diagram
Figure 1.pdf

Table 1. Characteristics and outcomes of included studies
Table 1.pdf