ACNet Projects

AUTISM CARE NETWORK PROJECTS

ECHO Autism

ECHO stands for Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes. ECHO Autism uses videoconferencing technology to share autism specialist knowledge with family physicians, pediatricians, psychiatrists and nurse practitioners located throughout Central and Northern Alberta. A Hub team of autism specialists are located at the Glenrose Hospital and they meet twice per month with the clinician participants for a total of 12 sessions.

Each ECHO Autism session consist of a case presentation, question period, collaborative discussion and a didactic presentation. This teaching model helps primary care providers learn how to manage the care of children with autism spectrum disorder who present with conditions such as constipation, sleep disorders, restricted eating, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and behavioural challenges. By building the knowledge base and capacity of the primary care provider, more care is able to be provided within the child’s own community by the clinician the child and family knows and trusts.

Autism Learning Health Network (ALHN)

The Glenrose Hospital is member of the North American Autism Care Network (ATN) which includes a group of 20 research and medical facilities that are dedicated to advancing autism research and intervention. The ACNet a major projects of which all 20 sites are contribute. Dr. Lonnie Zwaigenbaum and Dr. Brenda Clark are leading this project at the Glenrose.

The Network aims to improve the wellbeing of children with autism through ongoing collection of their medical and behavioural challenges. The Network is presently focused on improving the outcomes of children with autism who also experience ADHD, anxiety or irritable behaviours. Quality Improvement methods are utilized to determine if system changes can improve care. Information found within the database will be retrieved and used for group analysis and future research projects that focus on autism intervention.

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