Experiencing the ECHO Educational Model: An Interactive Demonstration of ECHO Integrated Mental and Physical Healthcare

Abstract: Are you interested in learning more about an innovative and technology-enabled education models? In this highly interactive workshop, attendees will participate in a live session of Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Integrated Mental and Physical Health (ECHO^®-IMPH).





Project Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO^®) is a virtual training and capacity building model that uses videoconferencing to link expert interdisciplinary teams (“the hub”) with primary care providers (PCP) in local communities (“the spokes”). It was originally developed as, and continues to be, a model to help overcome geographical disparities in the provision of specialized health care to underserved areas. In Ontario, Canada, we have developed and implemented ECHO-IMPH. This program focuses on building health care provider capacity to manage and support patients with co-occurring mental and physical health conditions in primary care. Each session includes a didactic lecture, a clinical case presentation by a spoke member, and then discussion of potential management strategies by the spokes and hub. A list of recommendations are provided to the case presenter and community of practice. To date, we have completed six 12-week cycles of ECHO-IMPH and over 322 primary care providers have participated in the program. To our knowledge, this is the only ECHO explicitly focused on supporting PCP caring for this complex patient population and led by C-L psychiatry. Our recent study demonstrated that PCP were highly satisfied with ECHO-IMPH. Participation was associated with improved self-efficacy scores related to caring for patients with multimorbidity, with over 80% of PCP reporting positive changes to their clinical practice.





This workshop will be experiential and interactive. It will start with a brief introduction to the ECHO model and how sessions are structured (10 mins). Workshop participants will then join a session of ECHO-IMPH as spoke members (60 minutes). The ECHO-IMPH session will follow its typical structure and participants will experience how this educational model builds care provider capacity, exemplifying its motto of “all teach, all learn”. During the final 20 minutes of the workshop, through discussion and question and answer, participants will have the opportunity to reflect on their experience and how they may apply to this model to their own environments.