CHADD Takes Steps to Improve ADHD Treatment Monitoring
Lanham, MD (PRWEB) September 28, 2015 -- CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), the leading national non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals with ADHD, today announced a new benefit for parent members to help improve ADHD treatment monitoring.
“After a child is diagnosed with ADHD, and treatment initiated, it is important for parents, teachers, and clinicians to have regular ongoing communication” said Michael MacKay, President of CHADD. “Fortunately, there are new online tools available that facilitate this and we have partnered with Attention Point to make their online communication tool, DefiniPoint, available to our parent members for free.”
DefiniPoint is a HIPAA secure suite of online tools that improves communication enabling clinicians to easily gather feedback from parents and teachers about the efficacy of ADHD treatment. With this information clinicians are able to make a more informed decision on the child’s ADHD care.
“Regardless of the type of treatment involved, whether medication, behavioral therapy, or dietary treatment, it is essential the clinician know how well core ADHD symptoms are being managed and how the child is performing in important domains so adjustments can be made to optimize the child’s ADHD care,” stated David Rabiner, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist, research professor, and associate dean at Duke University. “But unfortunately, recent research suggests that this may not always be the case. A study by Epstein et al. shows that rating scale data from parents and teachers, which help determine a child's treatment response, is rarely a part of follow-up medical visits. As a result, it is likely that many children are deriving less benefit from treatment than they would if treatment monitoring were occurring.” For this reason, ADHD treatment guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry highlight the necessity of sustained, systematic treatment monitoring.
In July, CHADD and Attention Point formed a strategic partnership to increase awareness of the importance of treatment monitoring and to increase access to educational and ADHD management resources. “We’re glad to be working with such a wonderful organization and I applaud CHADD for recognizing the need for better communication,” stated Sam English, PhD, founder & CEO of Attention Point. “I believe DefiniPoint will benefit CHADD parents and families and ultimately result in better care for children with ADHD.”
About Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
ADHD is one of the most common childhood neurobehavioral disorders. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, parents report that approximately 11 percent or 6.4 million children ages 4 to 17 have been diagnosed with ADHD in the US and 82.5% of diagnosed children are receiving medication and/or treatment by a mental health professional. It is estimated that the annual direct cost of the diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing management of ADHD in the US is approximately $30 billion. For more information about the importance of ADHD treatment monitoring, please see http://www.attentionpoint.com/Attentionmonitoring
About CHADD
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD), is a national nonprofit organization that improves the lives of people affected by ADHD through education, advocacy, and support. CHADD is in the forefront in creating and implementing programs and services in response to the needs of adults and families affected by ADHD through collaborative partnerships and advocacy, including training for parents and K-12 teachers, hosting educational webinars and workshops, being an informative clearinghouse for the latest evidence-based ADHD information, and providing information specialists to support the ADHD community. CHADD represents more than 12,000 members and is located in Lanham, Maryland. (http://www.chadd.org)
About Attention Point
Attention Point is a health information technology company dedicated to improving the diagnosis and management of neurobehavioral health disorders. The company’s product DefiniPoint is a suite of online ADHD tools that improves ADHD management by connecting clinicians, professionals, teachers, patients, and parents. (http://www.attentionpoint.com)
April Gower-Getz, CHADD, +1 (240) 487-2306, [email protected]
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