Case Studies

Promoting Social-Emotional Development

Substantial research highlights the critical importance of fostering social-emotional development in young children and its lifelong impact on the health and well being of both the child and the family. Understanding how to best leverage pediatric practices to examine and reinforce positive social-emotional behaviors in parents and primary caregivers remained an unanswered question.

Our Approach

This initiative focused on the “align and design” components of NICHQ’s change management approach. We conducted an in-depth environmental scan to gain a rich understanding of the current state of evidence and the key levers for addressing the issue of social-emotional development in early childhood. This process identified what types of interventions currently exist, what populations are served, and what outcomes are being achieved. Research included peer-reviewed literature, reports and related initiatives as well as key informant interviews. Following, we convened nearly 40 subject matter experts in child health, early childhood development and intervention delivery at scale, as well as nearly 30 lived experience experts (e.g., parents, grandparents, caregivers) from across the country. Over two days, NICHQ facilitated a deep dive discussion to identify and detail opportunities within pediatric primary care to promote optimal social-emotional development.