Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Resource Referral Process in the Pediatric Emergency Department
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Adverse Childhood Experiences
- Sponsor
- Emory University
- Enrollment
- 62
- Locations
- 4
- Primary Endpoint
- Rate of attendance between groups after Behavioral Mental Health Specialist (BMHS) referral.
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- last year
Overview
Brief Summary
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are traumatic exposures that can cause many negative health impacts across life. ACEs are common in patients who seek out care in pediatric emergency departments (PEDs); this is an opportunity to connect families with mental health resources to mitigate the effects of ACEs and improve lifelong health. The goal of this study is to determine if children with high ACEs have better rates of follow-up with mental health resources when a telehealth option is provided, as previous research has shown that simply making an in-person follow-up appointment is not very helpful.
Detailed Description
Children 12-17 years old who are receiving care in a PED and their legal guardians will fill out a tablet-based electronic consent/assent and survey that takes no longer than 10 minutes to complete while waiting for treatment once they are in a private patient room. The study team will review the responses to identify children with ACE scores 2 or higher and contact the family to help them arrange therapy services. Patients will be randomized to in-person versus telehealth therapy. A few months after enrollment, the study team will contact the family and mental health team to find out if the family was able to keep their appointment to start mental health treatment. This will aid future research to identify if and how mental health treatment impacts these patients over the following years.
Investigators
Karli S. Okeson
Assistant Professor
Emory University
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Patients aged 12-17 years seen in the PED who read and speak English
Exclusion Criteria
- •Patients already enrolled in outpatient therapy resources,
- •Critically ill patients
- •Patients with significant developmental delays impeding their ability to participate in therapy.
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Rate of attendance between groups after Behavioral Mental Health Specialist (BMHS) referral.
Time Frame: Within 24 weeks after scheduled appointment date
Researchers will ask the therapy offices and participants if they were able to make it to the therapy appointment that was scheduled.
Secondary Outcomes
- Child-reported and caregiver-reported Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and PCEs(Baseline)
- Child opportunity index (COI)(Baseline)
- Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs) scores between groups(Baseline and Within 24 weeks after scheduled appointment date)
- ACEs prevalence by zip code between groups(Baseline)
- Community Resources by zip code(Baseline)