Parents' Preferences for Behavioral Services in Primary Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Rachel A Petts, Bethany L Walker, Katherine A Hails and 4 others
PMID 34723931WHAT IT FOUND
During the pandemic, parents preferred virtual care for separate behavioral visits but in-person for routine well-child checks.
Interest in digital resources like apps and portals rose significantly. Helping children cope with emotions remained the top topic, with self-calming rated more important than before.
Key findings
01Parents showed significantly greater interest in receiving behavioral information via patient portals, mobile apps, books, videos, and podcasts compared to the pre-pandemic sample.
02While routine well-child visits were preferred in-person, parents preferred virtual care over in-person for separate behavior-focused visits with primary care clinicians.
03Teaching children to calm themselves was rated significantly more important by parents during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic reference sample.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The survey was completed online, which may have biased results toward a preference for digital interventions. Recruitment was limited to specific clinics, and many invitation messages were never opened or received, potentially introducing sampling bias. Very few fathers and non-parent caregivers participated, limiting generalizability. The study could not compare preferences between parents of children with and without significant developmental or behavioral issues.
Declared interests
The study was supported by NIH and US Government PHS grants. No other conflicts of interest are explicitly detailed in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume parents want all care moved online. They preferred virtual care only for separate behavioral visits, while still strongly preferring in-person care for routine well-child visits.