Telemental Health in Schools
The integration of telepsychiatry into school-based mental health has the potential to increase access to services and improve efficiency of service delivery. However, very few programs that focus on school-based telepsychiatry exist. The University of Maryland School Mental Health Program (SMHP) began providing mental health services in 1989.
The SMHP currently provides universal mental health promotion, early identification, prevention and intervention services in 27 Baltimore City Public Schools. Since 2014 the SMHP has been a component of the UM Child and Adolescent Child Psychiatry Fellowship and has trained 2nd year psychiatry fellows in school mental health service provision.
Psychiatry fellows are assigned to 2-3 school sites and work in partnership with school mental health clinicians to provide psychiatric services within a comprehensive, multi-tiered system of support. There are approximately 7 fellows and 20 clinicians who serve 27 schools. Fellows provide direct care psychiatry and support a comprehensive, multi-tiered system of mental health promotion, prevention and intervention supports via a blend of in-person and telepsychiatry.
The SMHP has collected program evaluation data to inform quality improvement for many years. The current project is funded by the Maryland Department of Health to understand psychiatrists’ productivity, effectiveness, expectations and experiences providing school-based telepsychiatry in order to inform ongoing expansion and improvements of school telepsychiatry service models.
Project Staff:
- Jennifer Cox, Director
- Nikita Parson, Associate Director
- Nancy Lever, Faculty Consultant
- Sharon Hoover, Faculty Consultant
- Dana Cunningham, Faculty Consultant
Funding Source:
Maryland Department of Health
Project Partners:
University of Maryland School Mental Health Program
Contact:
Jen Cox, Jfcox@som.umaryland.edu