The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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June 5, 2012

Our View: Pediatric mental health idea solid

The Free Press

— An effort by the Minnesota Department of Human Services and the Mayo Clinic to expand knowledge of pediatric mental health cases and offer support to doctors and practitioners seems very much needed and a worthwhile public health problem to tackle.

The $1.7 million program has been in the works for years and is aimed at helping fill a void in pediatric mental health that is mostly due to a shortage of psychiatrists. Few expect general practitioners to have all the knowledge needed to treat mental illnesses, but the program aims to provide general knowledge and some guidance on prescribing medicines and treatment.

Doctors will get training and will be able to access phone services to get prescription and treatment advice.

Minnesota, like other states, faces a shortage of pediatric psychiatrists, with only 81 statewide. So the new partnership can at least get kids some basic treatment that may be sufficient or treatment that helps stabilize them while they wait to see a pediatric psychiatrist. They state will require some doctors who treat patients on state government programs to call the phone line before prescribing certain drugs. Otherwise, the guidelines will be voluntary.

No one expects general practitioners to be able to handle complex mental illness cases like suicide or other conditions, but with some training expected to be about 25 hours over six months, general practitioners should be able to handle mild to moderate mental health issues.

Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Peter Jensen told Minnesota Public Radio that the goal is to get physicians trained enough to handle pediatric depression, anxiety issues or ADHD or maybe problems with kids who have a lot of aggression.

The program will aim to get some of the kids with the more moderate problems some treatment and have safeguards that will help with over-medication.

This program is just the kind of thing Minnesota is being recognized for more and more -- innovative partnerships that go straight at a problem with common sense, cost effective solutions.

There are many families who will likely benefit from this program, if only because the general practitioner, who is often on the front lines of these issues, will have more knowledge on how to help or where to get advice and help.

Even seemingly minor mental health issues can greatly affect the life of a young person and their family. Sometimes, parents also need to be educated on what their child might be going through. Is it typical teenage-year moodiness and erratic behavior or is it something else that could expose children to risky behaviors that could be life threatening?

We suspect many family doctors will welcome this kind of training. It will be a good start to helping serve the burgeoning demand for mental health services for children.

 

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