Interventions During Preschool & Early School Years for the Prevention of Learning Disorders
[1]
Maria Vlassopoulos, Community Mental Health Center, 1st Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
[2]
Ioanna Tsipra, Community Mental Health Center, 1st Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
[3]
Aikaterini Sakellariou, Community Mental Health Center, 1st Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
[4]
Evdokia Lagakou, Community Mental Health Center, 1st Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
[5]
Aggeliki Christodoulou, Community Mental Health Center, 1st Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
[6]
George Giannakopoulos, Department of Child Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
[7]
Dimitris C. Anagnostopoulos, Department of Child Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
[8]
Helen Lazaratou, Community Mental Health Center, 1st Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Early child development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behavior, and health. Early psychosocial interventions can contribute significantly towards promoting children’s healthy development and optimal inclusion in the school environment. Hence, such interventions are of great importance, leading to a more functional emotional and intellectual development in young children and, consequently, to a lesser likelihood of difficulties in later life. These types of preventive programs have significant cost benefits, since interventions for learning disorders and treatment of psychological disorders later in childhood and adolescence are much costlier. Although activities of this kind are carried out in many countries worldwide, Greece is still lagging significantly in this respect, with the majority of programs addressing more severe disorders. In the present economic crisis in Greece, less advantaged families can only have access to, and make use of, care as long as quality community services are provided without charge. The funded program described here was implemented by a state university community-based mental health center aiming at preventing children’s learning disorders. The program consisted of four components that included early interventions for children with specific developmental disorders, training kindergarten teachers in school readiness, early identification and treatment of learning difficulties in early primary school children, and related educational activities. The results from the three-year implementation were particularly encouraging. The program succeeded in responding to the population’s demand for services and provide quality care to the community. The fact that a public community-based mental health center was funded to implement comprehensive preventive interventions for young children and their families amid the severe economic recession may have long-term repercussions for the whole community.
Community Mental Health, Learning Disorders, Early Intervention, Prevention, Children
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