Increasing pediatric primary care providers’ confidence and use of in-office interventions for anxiety: an application of the project ECHO model

Purpose The prevalence of pediatric anxiety disorders is on the rise but youth have challenges in accessing specialty evidence-based mental health care. As a result, families turn to their pediatric primary care provider (PCP) for assessment and management of anxiety. To increase PCPs’ abilities to manage anxiety, the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (“Project ECHO”) was used. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of Project ECHO on participating PCPs’ knowledge, self-efficacy and interventions surrounding the assessment and management of anxiety. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected pre- and post-course across five cohorts. Participants completed a clinical knowledge test, ratings of self-efficacy and self-reported frequencies of in-office interventions. Satisfaction was also measured. Findings Attendance remained strong, and participants rated high satisfaction. From pre- to post-course, participants demonstrated increased knowledge on almost all objective questions. Participants reported increased self-efficacy across all domains. Finally, participants endorsed increased use of several in-office interventions. Practical implications This study highlights the importance of Project ECHO as a continuing education model to enhance PCPs’ abilities and confidence in the assessment and management of anxiety. Future continuing education endeavors should consider Project ECHO as a means of increasing PCPs’ capacity to manage mental health conditions. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that applied the Project ECHO model to pediatric anxiety as a mechanism of increasing knowledge, self-efficacy and in-office interventions with PCPs.