|
 |
| Pediatrician
Involvement in Child Care |
|
Pediatricians in Action |
Activities in Early Education
and Child Care |
"A pediatrician involved
in childcare can communicate to staff, parents,
and the community that a program should be more
than just custodial day care. That children
are individuals who have unique developmental,
behavioral, emotional, and health needs, and
that child care is a key part of the continuum
of the delivery of those services."
|
Charles R Feild MD,
MPH, FAAP
Little Rock, Arkansas
Professor and Chief of Community Pediatrics
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Executive Director
UAMS Head Start Programs
Dr Feild is the Executive Director of the Head
Start Program and the Early Head Start Program
in Pulaski County, the attending pediatrician
for the Centers for Youth and Families, and
the district physician for the Little Rock School
District.
Read more about Dr Feild here.
|
|
"One's level of involvement
in child care issues can be very rewarding and
yet doesn't require a huge time commitment. In
addition, there are wonderful references available,
particularly 'Caring for Our Children' and of
course, the 'Red Book!'" |
Valerie
Sussman MD, FAAP
Ventura, California
General Pediatrician
Volunteer member of the Health Advisory Committee
for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs
of Ventura County.
Read more about Dr Sussman here.
|
Dr Jana (in red) and friends, cutting the ribbon
at her educational child care center, Primrose
School of Legacy.
|
Laura Jana MD, FAAP
Omaha, Nebraska
General Pediatrician
Owner/Operator of Primrose School of Legacy
Dr Jana is a member of the AAP's Early Education
and Child Care Steering Committee, the Center
for Child Health Research Consortium, and the
Lluminari Expert Network, owner/operator of
the Primrose School of Legacy - an educational
child care center located in West Omaha. Her
book, Heading Home with Your Newborn: From
Birth to Reality has recently been published
at the AAP. And....she still manages to practice
general pediatrics part-time.
Read more about Dr Jana here.
|
|
"How did I get started?
Well, as a developmental-behavioral pediatrician,
previously a primary care guy (5 years early in
my career), prevention messaging has always been
to parents, but children spend increasing time
with other providers (childcare), so naturally
they have strong influence by shear time invested
to have impacts on children's behavioral/ development,
as surely do my peers! I have increasingly seen
more children "kicked out of preschool which
is what moved my practice interest to younger
and younger children...often they were "kicked
out" from apparently good families, etc." |
David Willis MD, FAAP
Portland, Oregon
Behavioral-Developmental Pediatrics
Northwest Early Childhood Institute
Director
Former CATCH Grant recipient who explored the
possible connections between child care and pediatricians.
From this work, Dr Willis is currently working
with two large neighborhood child care centers
that include large networks of family-based child
care providers for multicultural, poor families.
By establishing trusting relationships they will
be bringing "anticipatory guidance"
messaging quarterly to ongoing childcare provider/parent
gatherings. Child care health consultation is
on the horizon.
Read more about Dr Willis here.
|
|
|
Seth Scholer MD, MPH,
FAAP
Nashville, Tennessee
General Pediatrician
Vanderbilt University
Dr Scholer has worked with local preschool teachers
in Nashville, Tennessee to develop a multimedia
intervention, Play Nicely (see www.playnicely.org)
that increases comfort level and knowledge of
how to manage hurtful behavior/ aggression in
young children. Dr Scholer has extensively studied
hurtful behaviors in children for many years and
is dedicated to reducing their incidence.
Read more about Dr Scholer here. |
|
"Many of the young children
we care for as pediatricians spend the majority
of their day in child care. During these hours
children need to be loved and cared for in a healthy,
safe and developmentally appropriate setting in
order to thrive. There are many opportunities
avaliable to impact the quality of child care
on a local, state or national level. Since child
care is such an important part of a child's life,
it should be important in the work of the pediatrician
too." |
Jessica Foster
MD and
Georgina Peacock MD, FAAP
Kansas City, Kansas
University of Kansas Medical Center
Developmental Disabilities Center
Drs Foster and Peacock have been involved with the
Kansas Infant-Toddler Child Care Initiative. They
have developed a project that communicates the importance
of quality child care to pediatricians. The project
also links pediatricians with their local CCR&R
agencies. They are also in the early stages of a
project with a local child care center to develop
a developmental screening program. They also hope
to establish a training program where allied health
students and medical students can gain experience
with child development. |
|
| |
