Transforming Emergency Mental Health Care for Youth: Enhancing Detection and Intervention

Jennifer A. Hoffmann, MD, MS • Assistant Professor • Depts. of Pediatrics (Emergency Medicine) and Medical Social Sciences • Northwestern Univ. Feinberg School of Medicine

About this talk:
This high-yield overview of pediatric mental health emergencies will cover current epidemiology, evolving trends, and persistent inequities in access to care and outcomes. Participants will review evidence-informed strategies to prevent and de-escalate acute agitation in emergency settings, as well as best practices in suicide risk screening, brief intervention, and linkage to care.

Learning objectives:
Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Describe recent epidemiologic trends in pediatric mental health emergency visits, including patterns of prolonged boarding
• Implement strategies to prevent and deescalate acute agitation among children in the emergency department
• Integrate evidence-based suicide prevention into emergency care for youth, including screening, brief intervention, and linkage to follow-up services

About the speaker:
Jennifer Hoffmann, MD, MS, is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University and an Attending Physician in Pediatric Emergency Medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. She is a physician-investigator focused on adapting, testing, and implementing brief, evidence-based interventions to prevent youth suicide in emergency department settings. Dr. Hoffmann is supported by a K23 Career Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health to study Caring Contacts, a scalable suicide prevention intervention delivered to adolescents via text message in the year following an emergency visit. Her broader program of research includes quality improvement and health services studies aimed at advancing equitable, high-quality care for children experiencing mental health emergencies. She serves on the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Pediatric Emergency Medicine, contributing to national policy statements that shape pediatric emergency care.  

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In addition to the Pritzker Building, DPBS members can also watch this event live at Mount Zion (Room B730) and ZSFG (Bldg. 5, Room 7F10), as well as on Zoom (psychiatry.ucsf.edu/watchgrandrounds).

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Grand Rounds presentations are for educational purposes and intended only for behavioral/mental health professionals and clinical providers.

Continuing education (CE) credit is available for physicians, psychologists, nurses, and therapists who participate in this activity.