Ten IHS sites will take part in a new year-long pilot project to integrate trauma-informed care for children through a partnership between IHS, Johns Hopkins Center for Mental Health Services in Pediatric Primary Care, and Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health. “The quality of care for our youngest patients is important…” said Rear Admiral Chris Buchanan, acting director of the IHS. The collaboration is designed to reduce the effects of childhood traumatic stress due to poverty, physical or sexual abuse, community and school violence, and neglect.
The IHS and tribal pilot sites will receive virtual technical assistance through webinars, virtual learning communities, technical assistance calls, and metrics collection and analysis. IHS is working with the Pediatric Integrated Care Collaborative (PICC), part of the Johns Hopkins Center for Mental Health Services in Pediatric Primary Care. PICC works with national faculty, pediatric primary care providers, mental health professionals, and families to integrate behavioral and physical health services in Native communities.
The project uses a “learning collaborative” method in which newly learned processes are implemented and then evaluated to find out what works well and what does not and what changes might be needed. Staff are encouraged to test practical, sustainable approaches of integrating trauma/chronic stress prevention, detection, and early intervention into primary care for young children. Identified approaches may include providing primary and secondary prevention, screening for trauma-related problems, or treating trauma-related problems, the IHS says.
“We are honored to be able to work with a group of tribal communities and the IHS on trauma-informed integrated care,” said Lawrence Wissow, MD, professor, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. “[W]e know that the larger integrated care world will learn from solutions that incorporate Native American traditions of healing and collaboration.”