Journal Article

ECHO Autism STAT: Accelerating Early Access to Autism Diagnosis

Mazurek, Micah O., Sohl, Kristin, Curran, Alicia, Burnette, Courtney

2019

Overview

Although early diagnosis of autism is critical for promoting access to early intervention, many children experience significant diagnostic delays. Shortages of healthcare providers, limited capacity at autism centers, and geographic and socioeconomic challenges contribute to these delays. The current pilot study examined the feasibility of a new model for training community-based primary care providers (PCPs) in underserved areas in screening and diagnosis of young children at highest risk for autism. By combining hands-on training in standardized techniques with ongoing virtual mentorship and practice, the program emphasized both timely diagnosis and appropriate referral for more comprehensive assessment when necessary. Results indicated improvements in PCP practice and self-efficacy, and feasibility of the model for enhancing local access to care.

• Publisher: Springer US,Springer,Springer Nature B.V
• Subject: Access to Health Care / Adult / Adult Learning / Aged / Andragogy / Autism / Autism Spectrum Disorders / Autistic children / Autistic Disorder - diagnosis / Autistic Disorder - epidemiology / Autistic Disorder - therapy / Behavioral Science and Psychology / Child / Child and School Psychology / Child Health / Child, Preschool / Children / Clinical Diagnosis / Communication Skills / Community health care / Community Health Services - methods / Community Health Services - trends / Computer Uses in Education / Departments / Developmental Delays / Diagnosis / Early Diagnosis / Early experience / Early Intervention / Experiential Learning / Family (Sociological Unit) / Feasibility / Feasibility Studies / Female / Followup Studies / Health care access / Health care industry / Health Needs / Health Personnel / Health screening / Health services / Humans / Infant / Infant, Newborn / Influence of Technology / Instructional Effectiveness / Male / Medical diagnosis / Medical personnel / Medical screening / Mentoring / Mentors / Methods / Middle Aged / Neurosciences / Original Paper / Outcomes of Treatment / Pediatric research / Pediatrics / Pervasive Developmental Disorders / Physicians, Primary Care - trends / Pilot Projects / Primary care / Primary Health Care / Primary Health Care - methods / Primary Health Care - trends / Psychology / Public Health / Referral / Referral and Consultation - trends / Risk assessment / Screening Tests / Self Efficacy / Self evaluation / Shortages / Toddlers / Training / Underserved populations / Verbal Ability / Young Children