Psychology in Primary Health Care: Effects of Brief Targeted Therapy on Children's Medical Care Utilization

Abstract

Evaluated the impact of psychological treatment for 93 children (ages 1-15) with common behavior, toilet, school, and psychosomatic problems. Children and parents, who were members of a health maintenance organization, had 1-6 visits to a primary care-based psychological consultation service. Individualized treatment was guided by problem-specific behavioral protocols. Parent outcome and behavior checklist ratings indicated improvement or resolution for 74% of children and high satisfaction with the psychological service. Children's use of medical services, especially acute primary care visits, was reduced during the year after treatment; a matched comparison group's use was unchanged. Addressing children's unmet mental health needs reduces medical care utilization. A primary health care model of psychological services provides an integrated system for serving the health and mental health needs of children.

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