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Implementation outcomes from a pilot of “Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care” for children with autism and mental health needs

The objective of the study is to report the feasibility, acceptability, and adoption of the “Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care (ATTAIN),” a model to identify mental health needs and link to mental health care for autistic children. The Exploration, Preparation, Implementation, and Sustainment framework informed implementation outcome measurement and analysis. Thirty-six providers from seven pediatric primary care clinics within three health care systems enrolled and received an initial Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care training and ongoing online support over 4 months with autistic patients ages 4–16 years old. Survey and interview assessments measured perceptions of feasibility, acceptability, and intentions to sustain Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care use. Electronic health record (EHR) data assessed child characteristics and Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care adoption. Descriptive statistics and one-way analyses of variance characterized implementation outcomes and differences between health care systems. Rapid qualitative methods were used to analyze interview data that were integrated with survey data for convergence and expansion. Providers reported that Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care was feasible, acceptable, and that the initial training was helpful. Reports were mixed about providers’ intentions to continue using Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care. Providers offered recommendations for more specific and tailored implementation support. There were significant differences in provider-reported adoption rates between health care systems. This is one of the first implementation studies examining integrated mental health care for autistic children and highlighted specific areas for refinement to facilitate scale-up. Lay abstract Children with autism frequently experience co-occurring mental health needs. The “Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care (ATTAIN)” model was co-created with caregivers, pediatric providers, and health care leaders to identify mental health needs and link to mental health care for autistic children. This article describes outcomes from a pilot study of Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care with 36 pediatric primary care providers from seven clinics within three healthcare systems. Providers participated in an initial Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care training and received ongoing online support over 4 months with autistic patients ages 4–16 years old. Survey and interview assessments measured provider perceptions of feasibility, acceptability, and intentions to continue using Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care after the pilot. Providers reported that Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care was feasible, acceptable, that the initial training was helpful in their implementation but that more specific and tailored implementation support was needed. Results show that Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care is a promising model to support mental health screening and linkage for children with autism in primary care. Findings provide information on specific areas of the Access to Tailored Autism Integrated Care model that could be benefit from additional refinement to support more widespread use in primary care settings.