Pediatric Consultation-Liaison Psychology: Insights and Lessons Learned During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Nicole M Schneider, Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital; Dara M Steinberg, Columbia University; Andrea M Garcia, University of Kansas; Jessy Guler, University of Kansas; Emily Mudd, Cleveland Clinic Childrens; Monica Agoston, Emory University; Katherine N Schwartzkopf, Indiana University School of Medicine; Kristin A Kullgren, Michigan Medicine; Laura Judd-Glossy, University of Colorado, Aurora
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-06-06
• Publisher: SPRINGER/PLENUM PUBLISHERS
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10880-022-09887-4
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY IN MEDICAL SETTINGS
• Grant/Funding Information: No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript. Dara M. Steinberg, Ph.D.’s position is funded by The Valerie Fund.
• Keywords: Telemedicine; TELEMEDICINE; Psychology, Clinical; Pandemic; Social Sciences; Psychology; Pediatric; COVID-19; Consultation-liaison
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Health Sciences, Mental Health

Abstract

COVID-19 has presented a variety of challenges to the provision of psychology services. In the first month of the pandemic, pediatric consultation–liaison (CL) psychologists reported significant changes in methodology of service delivery (Steinberg et al. in Clin Pract Pediatr Psychol 9:1, 2020). To better understand how and if these changes persisted, as well as other emerging trends, a follow-up study examined changes and challenges six months into the pandemic. An anonymous questionnaire assessed topics related to pediatric CL psychology including practice changes, perception of changes, and institutional support. The questionnaire was sent to the APA Society of Pediatric Society’s special interest group listservs. Thirty responses were analyzed. Quantitative results showed participants’ beliefs that telemedicine is equally efficacious to in-person services for outpatient psychological care, but less effective for inpatient care. Participants reported their perception of how institutions supported their safety, psychology trainee safety and training goals, and patient care. Qualitative results demonstrated that most psychologists experienced changes related to their dynamics with medical teams, which included changes in team efficiency, workload, transition, and team collaboration.