KU School of Medicine-Wichita

25 SYSTEM • Increase Access • Improve Quality • Reduce Costs • Reduce Disparities • Retain Providers • Keep Patients Local COMMUNITY • Aquire New Knowledge • Treat More Patients • Build Community PROVIDER PATIENT • Right Care • Right Place • Right Time the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. The participating students' parents receive training as well, and the feedback from them has been positive. "BREATHE helped teach me how to parent my child with ADHD better," one parent wrote in a survey. "I truly like the reports from the counselors as it's helpful to know how his day went. I know my son enjoyed it so much as well!" KDADS has provided additional funding to expand the BREATHE program through the summer. All the medical school's eorts are aimed at addressing mental health issues when they first appear. "We know that there are eective treatments for children's mental health problems, just as there are for adults," Brown said. "It's a question of getting those treatments to kids as early in the course of their illness as you can. Because people really suer when they're experiencing those conditions." at-risk girls in Newton, where Brown is medical director, will also likely be involved in the training. Early treatment The BREATHE program, a partnership between KU Wichita and the Haysville school district, is more local in approach, focusing on elementary school students with behavioral issues in the town south of Wichita. BREATHE stands for Building Relationships and Targeting Healthy Emotions. The 12-week after-school program began last fall and served 35 students in grades K-5 during the school year. Meeting two days a week, the children can earn points and prizes for good behavior as they take part in sports and recreational activities under the supervision of current and former college students serving as counselors. It's overseen by Klaus who wrote the grant application that obtained funding for it from "I think it has been growing and unfortunately those who historically have provided care have not increased at the same rate as the need has increased," she said. "We can't get enough specialists, so primary care is being asked to do more and more." Harris compared the AYM HI program to the response of the medical community to the rising obesity rate among youngsters several years earlier, noting that residents have not traditionally received "a lot" of training in mental health care. "Just like obesity and Type 2 diabetes were something we were never really trained on, as the need was there, we adapted and figured out what we needed to do to take care of our patients." Wesley's outpatient pediatrics clinic on Carriage Parkway, KU Wichita school-based health clinics and the EmberHope Youthville home for

• Cover