New multidisciplinary Mind Conference encourages collaboration

News and Announcements | May 15, 2024 | Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health

As part of continued efforts to foster inter-departmental collaboration within the Jane and John Justin Institute for Mind Health at Cook Children's, the multidisciplinary Mind Conference launched March 2024. Occurring the first Wednesday of each month (4-5 p.m.), this conference brings together faculty and staff from the nine divisions of the Justin Institute to collaborate on challenging patient cases. By discussing cases as a team, the conference provides a forum to initiate evaluation and care before the patient is referred to another specialty - potentially avoiding unnecessary referrals and accelerating access to appropriate treatment. In addition, the conference allows coordination of care, access and awareness for services available within the Institute or the patient's community, and an opportunity to enhance diagnostic and treatment skills of faculty through real world learning experiences.

The inaugural meeting was a great success with over 30 faculty and staff members in attendance. Dr. Perry, head of Neurosciences at the Justin Institute noted, "The first meeting was amazing. I presented my patient with drug resistant epilepsy and new symptoms of anxiety. Instead of waiting for an appointment with psychiatry, I was able to take the first steps in screening for anxiety, initiate medication, and get the child connected with counseling. I probably would not have taken all those steps without the guidance of my colleagues, but this conference made that possible and shortened the duration of care for the patient."

Education credits are available for nursing, physicians, pharmacy, mental health providers among others attending the conference. In an effort to gauge success of this program, staff will track outcomes of presented cases with a focus on resource utilization, timeliness of referral and overall participant satisfaction with the education provided each month.

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