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Families in rural communities across the country face unique barriers to supporting their children’s developmental health and well-being. A shortage of healthcare professionals living nearby and high numbers of uninsured families make it difficult for rural families to access and afford quality care and supportive services during early childhood. Developmental screenings are an important gateway…
“Maternal and child health programs and professionals have become increasingly more cognizant of how fathers, specifically, affect their children’s health and development,” says NICHQ President and CEO Scott D. Berns, MD, MPH, FAAP. “Moving this conversation forward, and highlighting strategies that support father engagement and involvement, is a critical opportunity to improve children’s health outcomes…
Georgia—Artkelian Cameron knew that her 3-year-old son’s development wasn’t where it was supposed to be. But when she talked to her son’s pediatrician, her questions were repeatedly dismissed and her son’s diagnosis with autism was delayed until he was 5. Even after diagnosis, Cameron and her son struggled to access supportive services through her pediatrician….
In the first three years of life the brain goes through an incredible growth spurt, producing more than a million neural connections every second. These connections, all of which will inform future social and emotional health, depend on our experiences and interactions with others. “The brain is a social organ, co-constructed with others,” says Gerard…
Health and human services, mental health services, education, employment, the justice department, and housing—these are just a few of the many different state agencies that must work together to improve early childhood health outcomes. Together, they represent a more comprehensive early childhood system, one that accounts for the different needs families have depending on the…
Christy Blakely and Elizabeth Aquino both have daughters with special healthcare needs. Both mothers grew accustomed to navigating the halls of hospitals and sidestepping holes in the health system. They know what it’s like to feel as though you are not seen and that, no matter how loudly or urgently you speak, your voices won’t…
Before Tara Bristol Rouse became a NICHQ family partner—a passionate parent advocate for improving children’s health systems—she was a mom. A mom who, in 2004, experienced severe preeclampsia and had to deliver her son 13 weeks before her pregnancy reached term. A mom who spent 83 days after delivery visiting her son in the hospital…
In recent months, there has been a surge of legislative actions for children’s health advocates. New laws have been passed that provide funding for programs and research initiatives essential for improving the health and well-being of children and families across the country. Here, NICHQ provides an update on the legislation, as well as a brief…
The early years of life set the course for a child’s future, laying the groundwork for them to grow and thrive, engage in healthy relationships, and succeed at work and school. Improving health and development for all children during those formative years can advance individual and social outcomes for the next generation. Supporting children in…
Over 13 million children live in rural areas and of them, nearly a quarter live in poverty. There is an urgent need to understand and respond to the disparities in health outcomes for this population of children, says NICHQ Chief Health Officer Elizabeth Coté, MD, MPH. “Rural children in poverty are effectively invisible to decision…