Addressing mental health across the healthcare spectrum

May is usually the month when the entire country speaks about mental health, because it is Mental Health Awareness Month. On this last day of May, as the chief medical officer at Nicklaus Children’s, I appreciate the additional awareness this brings to an issue that is dear to my heart, but to us it is mental health awareness month every month of the year. Mental health and wellness in children is so important because issues that remain unaddressed can affect a child’s wellbeing for the rest of their life. Studies show that children who are mentally healthy are more likely to grow up to become mentally healthy adults.

The coronavirus pandemic has resulted in mental health challenges in children that I have not seen before in my lifetime. Matthew Love and Perry Ann Reed have addressed some of these issues in their blog posts this month, so I won’t go into too much detail. I agree with both that mental health issues are issues of the community, not just the individual child and their family. And we need to address these issues as a community, and we need to address them head on. We simply have no time to hide behind stigmas and blame. Across the country, pediatric emergency departments have been overwhelmed with visits due to mental health issues. At Nicklaus Children’s, we are no exception as we have seen an increase in children with mental health issues since the pandemic began in early 2020. In 2021, mental health visits to the Emergency Department increased significantly by over 200% and there were over 1,300 children and adolescents admitted to the hospital due to mental health issues.

To prepare for the tsunami of mental health issues that we are expecting and already witnessing, as Matthew wrote in his post, Nicklaus Children’s has implemented several projects and programs. One of these programs is the Pediatric Behavioral Health Network initiative addresses the overwhelming mental health needs of our community. The Department of Psychology at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital has developed a partnership / referral program with key community agencies in different geographic locations to mitigate the severe need for mental health services in the pediatric population. The Department has established a relationship with 13 organizations in the community including, but not limited to, university clinics, community mental health clinics, grassroots organizations, and others that provide an expedited appointment or service for patients triaged via a psychologist. The psychologist completes a consultation with the patient/family, provides recommendations, and refers the patient to one of the organizations based on patient’s needs and geographic location. The Network team has also partnered with our Government Affairs colleagues to identify opportunities and funding to scale the Network and increase overall awareness of the mental health crisis at the local, state and national levels.??

Children’s mental health is a complex endeavor. Pediatricians and primary care doctors need to keep their eyes and ears open to spot changes in children’s mental health. School nurses need to be able to spot mental health issues and they need to be able to spot them early. Parents need to be willing to have their children treated for mental health issues and not just assume that “they will just grow out of it.”

The good news is – even if the pandemic has been uncharted territory for all of us, the steps we can take to ensure mental health in children are well established. We just need to all work together to make sure they are taken early on. And that truly is a community effort.