Developing an effective referral process from primary care to parenting supports

Need for effective referrals from primary care to parenting supports

Parent support programs are not widely available, and do not reach the families who could benefit from them. Primary care clinics are frequently accessed and trusted settings and could be the ideal setting to connect families to parent support programs. However, primary care personnel are not trained to address behavioral health or parenting topics and pediatric referrals are often not made or completed.

Test of Communication Skills Training & Referral Process

We developed and tested a brief communication skills training for primary care providers to equip them to effectively refer parents to therapists trained in a parenting program. The communication skills training uses the skills of "Support" and "Guide" to effectively engage and motivate parents. The collaborating clinics in this study are part of a Federally Qualified Health Center, facilitating reach within an under-served population of parents.

Example Diagram of "Supporting" and "Guiding" parents during conversations in primary care

During the pilot year, clinicians made 125 referrals to the parent support program. The referral process shows promise as a method to connect families to supports.

Funding Acknowledgement

The pilot-test of eGen was supported by the National Institute Of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R34MH124690, A pilot test of a brief eHealth parent-focused prevention intervention with parents referred from primary care clinics, PI: Mehus. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.