Increasing Capacity to Address Emotional Health for Children with Chronic Conditions and their Families: Roles for Pediatric Psychologists

Lay Summary The current mental health workforce is too small to fully address the ongoing national emergency in child and adolescent mental health, leaving many patients with chronic medical conditions and their families without the comprehensive care and support they require. This commentary highlights ways in which pediatric psychologists can increase capacity to address emotional health for children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions and their families, using examples from a novel approach implemented in the American Board of Pediatrics’ Roadmap for Emotional Health project. Pediatric psychologists have used their expertise in providing mental health care for children and adolescents with chronic medical conditions and their families, working with multidisciplinary teams, and implementing evidence-based strategies to enhance medical provider competence in and comfort with addressing emotional health as part of routine medical care. This approach “normalizes” health-related stressors for adolescents and their family members, while reserving scarce psychology services for the highest-need families. Key insights are shared, including how to address systemic barriers to this work, as a guide for both psychologists and healthcare teams looking to address emotional health in pediatric subspecialty settings and with other populations.