Collaboration and Care: Advancing Support and Mental Health Care Access for Rural and Military Children and Families
The study’s principal investigator, Jessica Simacek, is the director of the TeleOutreach Center and co-director of the TeleOutreach Research Service Hub. She says one of the main findings in the research reveals the importance of getting “the right care at the right time for children.”
Researchers, educators, and advocates from the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration, the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain , and other organizations gathered for the “Collaboration and Care: Advancing Support and Mental Health Care for Rural and Military Families” event at the University’s McNamara Alumni Center.
The meeting focused on the latest findings from the Military Child and Family Collaboration study , which examines new ways to help military-connected families and people living in rural communities access services for children's mental, emotional, developmental, and behavioral (MEDB) health care.
The study’s principal investigator, Jessica Simacek, is the director of the TeleOutreach Center and co-director of the TeleOutreach Research Service Hub. She says one of the main findings in the research reveals the importance of getting “the right care at the right time for children.”
According to the study, the prevalence of MEDB needs is increasing, and provider shortages are at crisis levels. For example, families may encounter a very long wait for their child to receive care. In addition, the wait to see a developmental and behavioral pediatrician can be five months, and it might take 9 to 36 months for a child to receive an autism evaluation.
Simacek and other panelists discussed how telehealth models and digital tools are helping to accelerate access to high-quality care. These tools can be especially useful in helping military families maintain continuity of care for their child. “Military families typically move every one to two years,” said Erin Frick, a clinical psychologist with the Consortium for Defense Psychology . “This is disruptive to care, and that’s why telehealth tools can help families have access to care wherever they are.”
The Director of the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain, Damien Fair , spoke about the importance of “information flow” and highlighted a new online data portal that provides “just in time” data to help providers and parents have a more complete picture of a child’s needs.
In the Upper Midwest, military-connected children are likely to reside in rural or geographically dispersed locations. Research has found that early, individualized, non-fragmented care is crucial for children who have MEDB needs.
Fair reflected on the importance of getting the stakeholders on this topic to collaborate. "What struck me during the gathering was the room itself,” Fair said. “Researchers, clinicians, community partners, military families, and policy folks all in one place talking about the same kids. That does not happen often enough, and it is exactly what MIDB was built to do."
The panelists discussed the key components in the Military Child and Family Collaboration study, which include building capacity and maintaining access to care, coordinating research to build a more complete picture of military youth and family experiences, and developing more digital tools to accelerate the development and dissemination of evidence-based care and support.
The Military Child and Family Collaboration Study is ongoing, and Fair said, “The next step is making sure the work travels beyond the room. We have real tools now, telehealth, provider training through models like Project ECHO, and AI approaches. Our partners left knowing Minnesota kids and families have a seat at the table.”