2023 14th Annual NUBE Conference

The field of child and adolescent emergency psychiatry has been minimally characterized with a lack of clarity of current models of care, services offered, staffing approaches and care delivery. In light of the significant rise in pediatric mental health emergencies, we sought to characterize the current models of care and service delivery models of care through an international survey of health systems and their approaches to Child and Adolescent Emergency Psychiatry.Methods: A 42-item survey, modeled on surveys developed by Shaw et. al. in 2006 and 2016, assessed best practices and service delivery in Child and Adolescent Emergency Psychiatry. Participants were elicited from 11/8/2022-11/18/2022 via emails sent to the professional listservs of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, and the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry. This survey will be described in depth.Results: Seventy-three participants volunteered to complete the survey representing sixty-one sites. The majority of respondents identified as child psychiatrists (51%), followed by child emergency psychiatrists (33%), pediatric emergency physicians (16%), and emergency psychiatrists (12%) with the remaining 14% of respondents either being general psychiatrists or having other specialty roles in child psychiatry such as consultation-liaison psychiatry or inpatient psychiatry. Geographic representation included the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Switzerland. A majority of respondents were urban (N=44, 90%) and in an academic center with a dedicated Children’s Hospital (N=33, 67%). Twenty-eight respondents (57.1%) had direct access to inpatient psychiatric care, while 21 respondents (43%) did not have access. Thirteen respondents (50%) responded that access to inpatient psychiatric beds impacted the ED/hospital length of stay and boarding. Conclusions: Survey findings will provide an opportunity, empowered by data, to make more informed decisions about service models and care delivery related to child and adolescent psychiatric emergencies. This study will also inform and guide future research, quality improvement and program development related to the nascent yet rapidly growing field of child and adolescent emergency psychiatry.

Learning Objectives:

1. The participant will understand the current lack of clarity of current models of care, services offered, staffing approaches for Child Psychiatry emergencies.
2. The participant will learn about a 42-item survey modeled on Shaw et al (2006 and 2016) describing 61 clinical sites providing Child Psychiatry emergency care.
3. Participants will understand 57.1% of respondents had direct access to inpatient psychiatric beds from the ED and 43% did not. 50% of respondents said access to inpatient psychiatric beds impacted the ED/hospital length of stay.