Health, Early Care, & Education Consortium

The Health, Early Care, & Education Consortium is a group of professionals that meet to discuss research in early care and education. The group is an entity of the AAP Center for Child Health Research (CCHR). The CCHR was developed to (1) identify unanswered but answerable research questions with implications for improving children's health care and health; (2) catalyze, coordinate, facilitate and conduct that research; and (3) help the AAP and others use this research to inform efforts to improve child health care and health. For more information on the center click here.

Below you will find a list of past and present research projects related to child care health and safety. These synopses are provided to encourage others to begin doing research in the field of early care and education.

Quick Links:

1. Handling Children Who Become Sick in Child Care
2. NTI for Child Care Health Consultants, The Quality Enhancement Project for Infants and Toddlers, and The North Carolina Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center
3. Opportunity for Health Promotion Education in Preschool Child Care Settings

Other Resources

Research Projects:
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Handling Children Who Become Sick in Child Care

Project Overview: We are conducting a cross-sectional survey of local pediatricians, child care providers, and parents. We hope to determine each of these stakeholders' preferences and practices for handling children who become sick while in the child care setting. In studying the health-related beliefs that influence these key decision-makers, we hope to identify possible barriers to the implementation of national illness exclusion guidelines.

Contact Information:
Kristen Copeland MD
Phone: 513-636-1687
Email: kristen.copeland@cchmc.org

Relevant Web sites:

National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care
http://nrc.uchsc.edu/CFOC/index.html
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NTI for Child Care Health Consultants, The Quality Enhancement Project for Infants and Toddlers, and The North Carolina Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center

Project Overview: The researchers listed below have 3 related projects.

1. The National Training Institute (NTI) for Child Care Health Consultants trains trainers of child care health consultants from across the country, with funds from MCHB/HRSA.USDHHS.

2. The Quality Enhancement Project for Infants and Toddlers, funded by North Carolina's Division of Child Development, deploys and evaluates the effectiveness of child care health consultants in 13 (soon to be 18) regions across the state.

3. The North Carolina Child Care Health and Safety Resource Center, a part of NC's Family Health Resource Line, trains child care health consultants, maintains informational and training websites and publishes the NC Child Care Health and Safety Newsletter,with funding both from the NC Divisions of PUblic Health and Child Development.

Contact Information:
Sandra Cianciolo
Phone: 919-966-6288
Email: sandra_cianciolo@unc.edu

Trish Isbell
Phone: 919-843-7369
Email: pisbell@email.unc.edu

Relevant Web sites:

The National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants
www.sph.unc.edu/courses/childcare

Health Child Care North Carolina
www.healthychildcarenc.org
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Opportunity for Health Promotion Education in Preschool Child Care Settings

Project Overview: I am studying the opportunity for health promotion education in preschool child care settings. We have conducted surveys of child care professionals, parents, and health consutants in Massachusetts; conducted focus groups of parents and providers in various child care settings; and, are designing a feasibility study of an intervention focused on improving nutrition and physical activity.

Contact Information:
Jonathan Finkelstein, MD
Phone: 617-509-9882
Email: jonathan_finkelstein@hphc.org
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Other Resources: