The takeaway: The addition of mental health support for pediatric transplant patients is improving lives for both children and their families. It’s a program that has grown and evolved over the years, offering unique and personalized assistance that improves long-term treatment adherence and overall mental and physical health.
Since it began integrating psychological care into its transplant program, Children’s Hospital Colorado has seen improved outcomes for both patients and families. After years of development, integrated pediatric psychological care involves having mental health providers participating in every step of a child’s journey in transplant care, from initial pretransplant evaluation appointments, through the surgery process, to the transition from pediatric to adult care.
The approach has been borne out in research and clinical care with patients and families, including investigations into its efficacy in specific portions of the transplant process, such as treatment adherence – where patients stay on a strict course of immunosuppressants to protect the new organ from rejection by their own body – social determinants of health and success navigating substance use.
Part of the team leading this research and integrating psychological care is Elizabeth Christofferson, PhD, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the CU Anschutz School of Medicine and a pediatric psychologist who specializes in treating solid organ transplant patients at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
What are pediatric solid organ transplants?
Specifically defined as heart, liver, lung, pancreas, kidney and other related transplants.
“We know that physical and mental health or psychological health are so intertwined,” Christofferson said. “And that's why we're so embedded in the team because we know that the psychological factors and psychosocial factors for these families can really impact outcomes and can serve as really strong resilience factors so these kids can thrive post-transplant.”
In the following Q&A, Christofferson gives an overview of the approach she and the team at Children’s Hospital Colorado take with young patients and their families to improve long-term health, with a focus on individualized support for each child at each step of the transplant journey.