Infant Welfare Society / The Children’s Clinic Announcement
Pictured (l to r) - Maria Allemana, Social Worker and Denise Gonzalez, Behavioral Health Director
IWS Children’s Clinic Expands Behavioral Health Services to the Dental Visit — May 2019 (excerpted from IWS Insights)
May 2019 (excerpted from IWS Insights)
Be The Boat is pleased to announce its latest collaboration which is artfully captured in the Infant Welfare Society’s latest May 15, 2019 email to supporters. Be The Boat, in collaboration with a grant from the Mullooly-Carey Fund, donated $60,000 to The Children’s Clinic in support of this initiative!
Sarah never expected that her son Charlie would get help for depression while visiting the dentist at the IWS Children’s Clinic, but she was grateful for the chance to talk with a professional about his needs. Before Charlie’s regularly scheduled preventive dental exam, the family completed a behavioral health screen. Afterwards, a clinic social worker spoke with the family about concerns identified and provided much-needed behavioral health services and support. This new IWS practice of providing behavioral health care during the dental visit is not common in dentistry; in fact, it is an innovative practice in healthcare.
Peggy LaFleur, Executive Director for the Oak Park River Forest Infant Welfare Society, commented, “The new practice continues IWS’s focus on integrating behavioral and mental health into primary care plus builds on our commitment to address the needs of the whole child. Previously, access to behavioral health was only available to our medical patients."
In November 2018 IWS expanded behavioral health care access to an additional 2,000 children like Charlie, who are seen at the IWS Children’s Clinic for twice a year dental hygiene visit. This is critical support for all the children we care for; children who are at risk for adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) ranging from physical, emotional, or sexual abuse to parental divorce to the incarceration of a parent or guardian.
Through financial support from donors and local mental health organizations, an additional, bilingual social worker, experienced in trauma-informed care was hired and the new protocol put in place. The behavioral health screens evaluate children for internalization (signs of depression-like symptoms), externalization (signs of bullying behavior) and/or hyperactivity (signs of ADHD).
Early program results reveal that there are a high percentage of dental patients needing behavioral health services and support:
A third of the dental patients were found to have behavioral health concerns identified through the screens or in consults with patients and family members.
Dental staff, through specialized training have increased patient referrals for behavioral health services by recognizing serious concerns such as suicidal ideation, signs of sexual abuse, and depression.
Patient awareness of the program has resulted in more patients and patient families proactively asking to meet with a social worker
Denise Gonzalez, Behavioral Health Director for the IWS Children’s Clinic added, “We have identified many serious concerns. With our focus on early intervention, we can alleviate enormous suffering for young people and improve outcomes for the child, the family, and our community.”
