Etherage, J. R. (2005). Pediatric behavioral health consultation: A new model for primary care. In L. C. James & R. A. Folen (Eds.), Health psychology series. The primary care consultant: The next frontier for psychologists in hospitals and clinics (pp. 173-190). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/10962-009
The Air Force Medical Service has made the reengineering of primary care services a top priority (Office for Prevention and Health Services Assessment, 2002). As part of that initiative, the Behavioral Health Optimization Project (BHOP) was initiated to train and place Air Force mental health providers in the primary care setting, "a crucial point of access to provide mental health services" (Office For Prevention and Health Services Assessment, 2002, p. 9). These providers, working as consultants to the primary care manager (i.e., the family practice physician), are referred to as behavioral health consultants (BHCs). All Air Force BHCs, including the BHCs at Malcolm Grow Medical Center, Andrews Air Force Base (AFB), Maryland, began their work nearly exclusively with the adult population. At the end of 2001, the Malcolm Grow Psychology predoctoral internship program systematically extended the BHOP training for their interns to include pediatric work with the advent of a pediatric psychologist working in the medical center's pediatric clinic. The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of the application of the Air Force BHOP model to the pediatric population and its implementation in a pediatric primary care setting. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)