The Need for Behavioral Health Discussions in Pediatric Primary Care

Nearly 50% of youth across the United States experience significant emotional challenges, but less than half of them receive the services they need. Primary care pediatricians are often a child or family’s first access point to medical care, and through early identification and intervention, primary care pediatricians can improve behavioral health outcomes for pediatric populations.  

To support primary care pediatricians, the Seattle Children's Care Network (SCCN), developed a free online training on effective strategies for communicating with patients about behavioral health concerns.

After completing the training, learners will be able to: 

• Understand why behavioral health concerns often are not addressed in primary care settings.
• Learn similarities between behavioral concerns and other pediatric concerns.
• Learn evidence-based communication strategies to encourage the engagement of patients and caregivers during their visit.
• Learn how to elicit concerns and partner with the patient and family to plan to address them.

Click here to access the training  

 How This Training Was Developed

Seattle Children’s Care Network (SCCN), in partnership with Seattle Children's Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, developed this training as part of their HealthierHere Scale and Sustain Project. This module incorporates training from Lawrence Wissow, MD (Director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Seattle Children’s) and expands the SCCN’s work from the HealthierHere Clinical Innovation Project.

As part of the Clinical Innovation Project, SCCN, in partnership with Seattle Children's Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine and the UW AIMS Center, created a learning collaborative to support the implementation of integrated behavioral health programs. This learning collaborative provided training and implementation support to twelve pediatric primary care practices.

To learn more about the training, please contact IBHSCCN@seattlechildrens.org.

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