Specialty (if any): Med-Peds, Primary Care

Keywords: implementation, needle anxiety

Background:  The Needle Anxiety Program was designed to support patients with severe procedural anxiety related to lab draws, immunizations, and other needle-related procedures. This program serves children and adults with needle phobia, patients with neurodevelopmental disorders, individuals with past traumatic experiences related to medical procedures, and patients requiring accommodations to successfully complete necessary medical procedures. It incorporates behavioral strategies, non-pharmacological interventions, and, when appropriate, pharmacological support to increase healthcare utilization within these populations. The program was piloted from July 2020 to 2021 and is now in the processing of expanding to other UCLA clinics.

Objectives: The implementation guide seeks to share how the Needle Anxiety Program functions and provides education, training, and resources, so that the program can expand to other clinics inside and outside of UCLA Health.

Design: This implementation guide is designed to share the overall workflow of the clinic, staff trainings, roles and responsibilities of key personnel, guidelines for clinic and providers, and additional resources.

Impact/Effectiveness: We have created surveys for patients to evaluate the effectiveness of the program and a needs assessment for staff to understand what education gaps may exist.

Lessons Learned: The successful implementation of a program is dependent on multiple staff members, as well as patients. It requires training and resources to provide proper patient care and to avoid causing disruption to the overall clinic.

Summary: The Needle Anxiety Program has shown to be a successful intervention for patients with procedural anxiety. To integrate the Needle Anxiety Program to clinics, education and training is necessary for providers, clinical staff, and non-clinical staff. The guide hopes to make education and training accessible and help similar programs to be established. Its resources will provide benefit to outpatient clinics, who provide procedures like immunizations and blood draws.