A Call-In Service to Address Parent Concerns About Child Behavior in Rural Communities

This study examined the utility of a pilot call-in service coordinated with two rural pediatric primary care clinics. This service provided practical, empirically supported recommendations to parents with concerns about their children\u27s development, behavior, or emotional well-being. Over 70 weeks, 81 calls were received. Five specific concerns including daytime wetting, conduct problems, anxiety, sleep, and repetitive behavior comprised 75% of all calls. In addition to describing the service overall, the current article examined the top concerns in terms of their process and outcomes in this brief intervention format. Overall, calls averaged 21 min, and parents reported high satisfaction and positive outcomes at follow-up. This format appeared to be most useful for calls regarding daytime wetting and repetitive behaviors/habits. The utility of a call-in service has not been recently explored. Moreover, specific pediatric problems amenable to brief intervention in primary care have rarely been researched. This study provides direction for the future use of call-in services or brief interventions in primary care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved