UAMS’ Psych TLC Offers Hope To Children And Caregivers
| LITTLE ROCK – Until recently, the children of Arkansas had limited access to mental-health treatment because of the limited number of specialists and the rural nature of the state.
With the creation of the Psych TLC (Psychiatric Telehealth, Liaison and Consults) program at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Psychiatric Research Institute, physicians throughout Arkansas now have the ability to contact experts in child and adolescent psychiatry for consultation with diagnosing and treating even the most difficult cases at no cost to the physicians or parents.
The newly developed program, created in conjunction with the Arkansas Department of Human Services, has a twofold approach. Psych TLC will offer a consult service to pediatricians and family practitioners seeking assistance for patients age 18 and under with psychiatric issues. The program will also oversee the extended care of patients age 2 to 12 who have been discharged from the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute’s children’s diagnostic unit to ensure that they receive post-discharge services in a smooth, seamless manner.
“This is a cutting-edge program that allows children in rural areas to receive the kind of psychiatric treatment that has not been available to them in the past,” said Lynn Taylor, M.D., Psych TLC’s coordinator. “We’re offering our expertise in a specific field that can facilitate therapeutic progress for the patient.”
Physicians needing a consultation can call the Psych TLC Call Center at 501-526-7425 or toll-free 1-866-273-3835 weekdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and receive a call from a child and adolescent psychiatrist on the UAMS staff within 15 minutes. With cases that need more personal attention, physicians may request a video consult that allows the physician and patient to discuss their case via an interactive video network with Department of Psychiatry faculty at one of UAMS’ eight Area Health Education Centers located around the state.
With the extended care part of the program, the Psych TLC counseling staff will follow patients for 90 days following their discharge from the Psychiatric Research Institute’s children’s diagnostic unit. They will work with parents, school personnel, physicians and therapists to make sure the children get “connected with the resources they need to function in their community in the least restrictive setting,” Taylor said.
“We’ll follow their progress as they go through various forms of therapy, including cognitive, speech, occupational and physical, to make sure they get the treatment that will prevent them from being rehospitalized,” she said. “Continual rehospitalization is traumatic for anyone, especially a child, and we want to get the resources out in the rural communities to prevent this as much as possible.
“Psych TLC is a place that doctors can call to get answers to their questions. There are a lot of kids in Arkansas who need help, and by creating this helping network for the physicians, we can create hope for the patients and their families,” Taylor said.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a new 540,000-square-foot hospital, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,775 students and 748 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com.