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Pediatric Consultation-Liaison: Patient Characteristics and Considerations for Training in Evidence-Based Practices

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Abstract

Consultation-liaison services are an integral part of many pediatric hospital settings, yet characteristics of this patient population have not been extensively documented. The current study is a retrospective one-year chart review of the consultation-liaison service at a large pediatric hospital in the Southwestern United States. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to characterize this hospital’s CL population and (2) to use these characteristics to identify preliminary evidence-based practices that should be considered for CL provider training. Identifying evidence-based practice elements that align with the characteristics of consultation–liaison patient populations may inform trainings for consultation-liaison staff. This would help to ensure that youth seen in hospital consultation-liaison services are getting the best available services, which is critical given the shortened time frame available to work with this patient population.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Rachel Tunick for her guidance and sharing information about her coding system. The authors would also like to thank Dr. Kevin Stark, Marcella Maxwell, and Dr. Alex Fischer for their support of this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, 1912 Speedway STE 504, Austin, TX, 78712-1289, USA

    Amanda A. Bowling, Sarah Kate Bearman, Weixi Wang & Leslie A. Guzman

  2. PracticeWise, LLC, Satellite Beach, FL, USA

    Eric Daleiden

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  1. Amanda A. Bowling
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  2. Sarah Kate Bearman
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Correspondence to Amanda A. Bowling.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Daleiden is a partner in PracticeWise, LLC, and financially benefits from the overall performance of the company. Amanda A. Bowling, Sarah Kate Bearman, Weixi Wang, and Leslie A. Guzman have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

The current study was determined exempt by the University of Texas at Austin Institutional Review Board. All procedures performed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional review board, APA, and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The current study was granted full waiver of informed consent by the University of Texas at Austin Institutional Review Board.

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Bowling, A.A., Bearman, S.K., Wang, W. et al. Pediatric Consultation-Liaison: Patient Characteristics and Considerations for Training in Evidence-Based Practices. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 28, 529–542 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-020-09738-0

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