Process for integrated care for children with special needs (PAINNE)

Introduction and objectives: the prevention of childhood deficits is more efficient when resources are coordinated amongst the professionals responsible for the child's care and screening tools are utilized to detect and provide early intervention to address situations of biological, psychological, and/or social risk.

Material and methods: we present the initial results of the implementation of the process for integrated care for children with special needs, PAINNE, in the integrated health organization Bilbao-Basurto, following the model of early intervention in the Basque Country, with a population of 20 655 children under the age of 6 years old. Applying the qualitative methodology, we have incorporated developmental screening tools in the electronic medical record, along with the other process indicators, as described in the guide PAINNE 2013

Results: 75% of the pediatricians and 56% of the nurses participated in continuing educational activities regarding early intervention. The referrals for early intervention were accepted in 93.27% of the cases by the Basque Early Intervention Team (EVAT). The median age for referral to mental health services for children with severe mental health problems decreased by 8 months to 3 years old, showing improvement in the early detection and implementation of services.

Conclusions: the results obtained in the first year indicated that the Pediatric Primary Care teams have reliably identified and referred 516 children with special needs, ages 0-6 years, to early intervention programs.