Studies show that many pediatricians and pediatric trainees feel unprepared to prevent, identify, or treat behavioral and mental health (BMH) problems.
Yet, too many children, adolescents, and young adults today are struggling with these issues, and the prevalence of diagnoses is increasing.
With funding from the ABP Foundation, the ABP is committed to supporting pediatric trainees and practicing pediatricians through:
- Supporting innovative curricula for education and training
- Addressing BMH topics through its certification processes
- Helping pediatricians address BMH in practice
- Partnering with parents and patient groups
- Partnering with other interested organizations
ABP Foundation-Funded Projects
The ABP Foundation funds a targeted group of projects to advance the emotional health and resilience of children and their families.
Roadmap Project
The Roadmap Project is a national effort that aims to support the resilience, emotional well-being, and mental health of pediatric patients with chronic conditions and their families. The ABP works with patients, parents, and the Learning Networks Program of the Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence to increase awareness for patients, families, and clinicians and provide ways to help.
BMH Entrustable Professional Activity
The ABP partners with pediatric educators and leaders to develop and pilot test entrustable professional activities (EPAs). EPAs are essential competencies that a medical professional must demonstrate across a range of domains that are essential to the practice of medicine. One of the 17 general pediatrics EPAs focuses specifically on BMH competencies (PDF) for the pediatric resident. The ABP Foundation is planning to study the implementation of the BMH EPA in seven pediatric programs.
Education in Mental Health Improves Patient Outcomes, Well-Being, and Emotional Resiliency (EMPOWER)
The EMPOWER project seeks to improve education and training in mental health for pediatric residents. The project leads from an inclusive framework whereby pediatricians, patients, and parents work together to improve children’s mental health care.
Associated BMH Publications
2023
2022
- Future Pediatric Subspecialists Are Not Prepared to Address the Mental Health Crisis
- Association of Behavioral and Mental Health Professionals in Continuity Clinic with Resident-Reported Competence
- Defining Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics
- The Role of Formal Policy to Promote Informed Consent of Psychotropic Medications for Youth in Child Welfare Custody: A National Examination
2021
2020
- Preparing Future Pediatricians to Meet the Behavioral and Mental Health Needs of Children
- Implementing the Behavioral and Mental Health Entrustable Professional Activity: Insights for a Path Forward
- Competency of Future Pediatricians Caring for Children with Behavioral and Mental Health Problems
- Pediatric Integrated Primary Care as the Foundation for Healthy Development Across the Lifespan
- A Roadmap to Emotional Health for Children and Families With Chronic Pediatric Conditions
2018
- Report of a Joint Association of Pediatric Program Directors — American Board of Pediatrics Workshop: Preparing Future Pediatricians for the Mental Health Crisis
- Revisiting the Viability of the Developmental-Behavioral Health Care Workforce
2017
- Pediatric Residency Education and the Behavioral and Mental Health Crisis: A Call to Action
- Understanding the Relationship Between Child Health-Related Quality of Life and Parent Emotional Functioning in Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant
- Health Care Workforce Development to Enhance Mental and Behavioral Health of Children and Youths
2016
- Variations in Mental Health Diagnosis and Prescribing Across Pediatric Primary Care Practices
- Parenting as Primary Prevention
- Primary Health Care: Potential Home for Family-Focused Preventive Interventions
- Fostering Psychotropic Medication Oversight for Children in Foster Care: A National Examination of States’ Monitoring Mechanisms