Using Technology to Optimize Child Mental Health Care In Real World Settings

Minnesota HealthSolutions (MHS) in conjunction with Mayo Clinic of Rochester proposes the current project to address the NIMH DSIR priority to develop novel tools for the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based treatment (EBT). We propose to develop a web- and mobile-based platform, eChildPsych, which integrates assessment, treatment tools, progress monitoring, and reporting. This sustainable and novel technological solution will improve the quality of mental health assessment and treatment for children through interactive tools to a) support initial and ongoing assessment and documentation, b) facilitate selection of key, diagnosis-relevant EBT components, c) implement progress monitoring by automatically collecting real-time patient-level data on fidelity, engagement, therapeutic progress and outcome, and d) facilitate organizational decision-making by providing aggregate fidelity and assessment data. Mental disorders are a leading cause of disability and often begin in childhood. At any given time approximately one in eight children suffers from a psychiatric disorder of sufficient severity to be impairing, the majority of which go untreated. Although effective assessment and treatment protocols exist for the majority of psychiatric conditions, the vast majority of treatment offered in real-world (non-research) settings is not consistent with best practices. This project aims to expand child access to evidence-based mental health care for the most common psychiatric diagnoses by building a system that addresses barriers to clinician use of evidence-based practices and broadens the potential base of users to other health providers (e.g., primary care) and families for self-help.