Historically, in the States it’s been a ten-year delay between the first symptoms of mental health struggles and getting the needed help. Today, the rate of children experiencing depression is at nearly 15%, double what it was just a few years ago. 

Child and adolescent psychiatrists, psychologists and pediatricians at Boston’s Children’s Hospital have developed the Guided Self-Management Toolkits for Families, a new resource allowing primary care providers, families and youth to partner together in early treatment. The toolkits make practical implementing the Building Bridges of Understanding program, which is bundled with self-paced Continuing Medical Education. 

Together, the program not only provides the necessary skills for the pediatric primary care provider, but more importantly, it provides education for the youth patients and the parent. So the same day the youth screens positive, the family can participate in treatment.