Abstract
Despite the risks due to fetal health and the development of addiction, substance use is common during pregnancy in the United States. However, due in part to mental health and specialist clinician shortages, lack of access to care for substance use during pregnancy remains a problem in rural areas. Therefore, programs to increase patient access to needed care in rural areas are important to help address health care access challenges. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the reach of the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Idaho perinatal substance use disorder (PSUD) series and respondents’ perceived benefit from attending the series. The ECHO Idaho (ECHO Idaho) program was developed to address this issue through a telementoring model for health care clinicians to better equip them to treat specialized health conditions. The present study sought to evaluate two subsequent years of a PSUD series (ECHO Idaho PSUD). A total of 290 clinicians participated in the ECHO Idaho PSUD series (year 1 = 154 respondents; year 2 = 136 respondents). Overall, respondents reported that the series was beneficial and better prepared them to treat patients with PSUDs. Additionally, respondents believed the series improved their knowledge, increased their understanding of state and local resources, and enhanced their ability to use the knowledge gained from the series in clinical practice. The results of this study indicate that the ECHO Idaho PSUD series may help to improve the care of perinatal patients with substance use disorder in rural and frontier areas. This research further supports the effectiveness and applicability of the Project ECHO series in increasing the knowledge and ability of clinicians practicing in rural areas to treat specialty conditions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)