Project 465791

Autism is the most common and fastest growing neurodevelopmental condition in Canada. Early diagnosis is critical to promote access to interventions and supports to help children reach their fullest potential. Despite evidence demonstrating the benefits of early diagnosis, many children experience significant wait times and delays in diagnosis due to shortages of specialized healthcare providers. Demands for diagnostic services are outpacing professional capacity in most communities across Canada, making access to autism diagnosis a critical health system issue. In a resource-strained health system complicated by COVID-19, leveraging existing capacity is essential to tackling complex service delivery issues. The Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorder Alliance (CASDA) and the University of Alberta are partnering to help increase diagnostic capacity across Canada by evaluating and spreading and scaling the Edmonton Training Model for Autism Diagnosis. This novel training model increases access to diagnostic services by building community expertise among primary care physicians (PCP). Using components of the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes, this program leverages technology to develop PCP expertise by combining hands-on training in standardized screening and diagnostic tools with ongoing virtual mentorship and practice. It provides PCP additional training and tools, so they can provide autism diagnostic assessments for children in their communities and decrease the need for referrals and barriers to treatment. The goal of my proposed work is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Edmonton Training Model for Autism Diagnosis and develop an implementation plan for the spreading and scaling of this program to underserved communities, including the Northwest Territories, Manitoba, and Vancouver Island. This innovative work provides a cost-effective solution to a critical system issue and helps more children across Canada to receive timely diagnosis and intervention.