Common issues affecting children (e.g., chronic pain, history of trauma, and prior substance use) are associated with greater impairment across physical, academic, and socioemotional domains, and a greater likelihood of opioid misuse in adulthood. There is a critical need to increase access to effective strategies to manage these common and challenging problems, particularly in regions (e.g., rural communities) with more limited access to pediatric behavioral healthcare. School providers (e.g., nurses and social workers) are trusted professionals already accessible to children who may be able to fill current gaps in care. The goal of this project is to co-develop a novel program to improve mental health, physical health (pain), and reduce the risk of substance abuse disorders (SUDs) in school-aged youth. We will build a program, PURSUIT (Preventing Use of Substances for the Underserved with Innovative Technology) with community partners to address these symptoms using technologically innovative and engaging care approaches. We will train school providers and test the impact of PURSUIT on the children they serve. This project, recently funded by a Behavioral Health Initiative Grant from the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, is led by Dr. Natoshia Cunningham (PI, pediatric psychologist and Associate Professor in Department of Family Medicine at Michigan State University) in partnership multiple research collaborators and community partners, including the MI CARES team.
