Impact of training in autism for primary care providers: a pilot study

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the impact of a training program on autism spectrum disorder (ASD) identification offered to Brazilian health professionals. Methods: Twenty-two primary care providers participated in five 3-hour weekly training sessions. Results: The trained providers significantly improved their ASD knowledge after training in comparison with pre-training (mean score, 6.73 vs. 9.18, p , 0.01). Clinical practice also changed: 4 months after the training program, the providers had referred six times as many suspected cases of ASD to a specialized mental health service in comparison with the previous 4 months. Conclusion: This pilot training model seems a promising, feasible, and inexpensive way to improve early identification of ASD in the primary care system.

Impact of a provider training program on the treatment of children with autism spectrum disorder at psychosocial care units in Brazil

“…Overall, the results of this study showed the positive impact of training, both through the video evaluations and the KAP questionnaire, but particularly in the former. Staff exhibited increased knowledge of virtually all 13 subjects, which aligns with findings reported in the national and international literature 12,13,27. Although we did not carry out a direct assessment of changes in the care staff provided to patients before and after training, studies indicate that professional training programs aimed at increasing knowledge levels about children with ASD also lead to improvements in care 23…”

“…On the other hand, studies conducted in Brazil and abroad have shown that the lack of specialized training in mental health, particularly regarding autism, represents a major challenge to providing care for this population, which highlights the need for continuing education among professionals in the field 5,10. To meet this demand, several training models have been tested and implemented, especially in developed countries11; in Brazil, a number of domestic trials have been conducted in SUS primary care centers, and although preliminary, their findings are promising 12,13. Therefore, training models for professionals in specialized public services in Brazil are still lacking.…”

Novel Insights into Autism Knowledge and Stigmatizing Attitudes Toward Mental Illness in Dutch Youth and Family Center Physicians

“…Two studies reported a positive effect on the child's age at diagnosis from implementing early detection strategies in (Chakraharti et al 2005;Oosterling et al 2010), but these studies did not evaluate the providers' actual level of ASD knowledge. We found one pilot intervention study that evaluated ASD knowledge in primary care providers (pediatricians and general practitioners), which showed that a higher level of knowledge was related to more suspected cases of ASD being referred to specialists (Bordini et al 2015). Besides providing knowledge about the early signs of autism, the Dutch ASD guideline also provides other essential elements to help improve the early detection of ASD, namely information on autism screening tools and parent communication, and more information regarding local referral options and procedures (Van Berckelaer-Onnes et al 2015).…”

“…Two studies reported a positive effect on the child’s age at diagnosis from implementing early detection strategies in preventive care providers (Chakraharti et al 2005 ; Oosterling et al 2010 ), but these studies did not evaluate the providers’ actual level of ASD knowledge. We found one pilot intervention study that evaluated ASD knowledge in primary care providers (pediatricians and general practitioners), which showed that a higher level of knowledge was related to more suspected cases of ASD being referred to specialists (Bordini et al 2015 ).…”

“…The scores were then divided by ten (number of items in each scale). Although the CAMI was developed to evaluate public attitudes toward mental illness (Taylor and Dear 1981), it has since been used broadly by health professionals (Chambers et al 2010;Smith and Cashwell 2010) and others (Bell and Palmer-Conn 2018;Losinski et al 2015).…”