Brentwood, Tenn.-based Psychiatric Medical Care, a provider of intensive outpatient care for older adults, seized the opportunity to invest in youth mental health amid the COVID-19 pandemic as behavioral health cases rose.
CEO Paul Smith Jr. and Chief Clinical Officer Stephanie Weatherly, DNP, RN, told Becker’s the surge prompted the creation of new specialized tracks tailored to younger adolescents, neurodivergent youth and children experiencing suicidal ideation.
“We are offering programs for children aged 10 to 18. Typically, when you look at the intensive outpatient program and partial hospitalization program world for adolescents, you’re seeing treatment for kids ages 13 to 18. We really recognized there was a need in the market for the younger patient population,” Dr. Weatherly said.
During the design phase, Psychiatric Medical Care focused on aligning treatment with a patient’s maturity level and comprehension skills.
“We do a lot more play therapy in that younger group than we do in the older kids… a lot more experiential learning and skills building, because they’re at that age where they’re needing to learn those things, and just lecturing isn’t very effective,” she said.
The system also monitors children through evidence-based testing according to their diagnosis to ensure progress is tracked through the care continuum.
Another track treats neurodivergent children with conditions like autism, ADHD and Tourette syndrome who struggle to sit still. Designated rooms are designed with specialty chairs, and patients receive curated activities.
“The way we do the group time gives kids the time to be able to get their energy out and still perform, still function and do the mental health work that we need to do,” Dr. Weatherly said.
And the initiative is yielding results.
“We were the first in Tennessee to offer a neurodivergent track… we’ve found that to be wildly popular, just because there’s nothing out there that fits all the boxes that their kids are checking off,” she said.
About 95% of the children seen suffer from suicidal ideation, and families need support, Dr. Weatherly said. The system works with family units to create safety plans for managing intrusive thoughts at home, as well as a digital asset with mental health resources.
“Parents are struggling — ‘What do I do with my child who I just read their journal and they’re talking about killing themselves?’,” she said. “So we partnered with a company to help us create a digital strategy so that we could go out and reach people that really need it.”
