Abstract 16805: A Mental Health Curriculum for Pediatric Cardiology Fellows: Increasing Preparedness of Pediatric Cardiologists to Meet the Needs of Patients at Increased Risk

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health (MH) is an important yet understudied area of care for patients with congenital heart disease (CHD). It is known that children and adults with CHD have increased incidence of MH disorders when compared to their peers. MH disorders are not reliably identified in the pediatrics population at large, and many children who would benefit from treatment of MH conditions do not receive appropriate care. Pediatric subspecialty fellows feel MH should be within their scope, but few feel competent in their ability to appropriately screen and make treatment referrals. Research Question: Does a didactic-based MH curriculum improve the preparedness of pediatric cardiology fellows to identify and refer patients at need for MH care? Aims: Determine the comfort of pediatric cardiology fellows with MH knowledge, screening, and treatment recommendations, before and after a didactic- based curriculum. Methods: A 9 session didactic based curriculum was designed by a multi-disciplinary team of experts, administered over 9 months (September 2021 - June 2022 and September 2022 - June 2023). Topics included MH and CHD Overview, MH Screening and Clinic-Based Interventions, Psychopharmacology, Delirium, Substance Abuse, Trauma-Informed Care, and Adult CHD and Transitional Care. An investigator designed survey was developed to assess fellow comfort with MH knowledge, screening, and treatment recommendation domains, and was administered at the beginning and end of the curriculum in each academic year. Results: 24 fellows participated over 2 academic years, 14 completed the pre-post survey (11/17 in year 1, 3/6 in year 2). Most participants were in their first year of training (9/14, 57%). Overall, fellow comfort with MH topics increased significantly (mean score 2.89±0.46 vs. 3.4±0.4, p = 0.0005), with improved comfort in the MH knowledge and treatment recommendation domains (p = 0.003 and p = 0.001). Conclusion: A didactic based MH curriculum improves the comfort and preparedness of pediatric cardiology fellows to address MH concerns of their patients. This curriculum will continue to be refined in topics over time but could be generalized to training programs nationally and across pediatric specialties to improve MH care for high-risk patients.