The Connecticut Children’s Office for Community Child Health is dedicated to addressing critical contemporary issues in children’s day to day lives that have the potential to adversely affect their health and development. The Office is gaining national attention for its innovative programs and is serving as a role model for similar initiatives in other states….
If You Love Children…
By: Jacquelyn M. Rose, MPH It’s not enough to be an early care and education professional because you love working with children. If you love children, you must leverage your view, your voice, and your visibility to improve the systems and quality of services for young children and families. While a variety of words and…
Help Me Grow Report Details Nationwide Reach
The diagnosis came when Isabel’s daughter was just 33 months old. Autism. The family was shocked. They wondered how they missed the signs. They did not know where to turn for help. Isabel immediately contacted her pediatrician who referred her to their local Help Me Grow affiliate, Help Me Grow Orange County, California. Care coordinators…
Leveraging Medicaid to Promote Children’s Optimal Health
By: Paul H. Dworkin, MD As our country continues to grapple with how best to achieve meaningful healthcare reform, we have an auspicious opportunity to leverage Medicaid to transform child health services to promote children’s optimal health, development, and well-being. Leveraging Medicaid to transform child health services demands that the past not be a prelude…
Pediatric Residents Address Health Needs of Refugee Children
By: Melissa Held, MD, FAAP They are among the most vulnerable patients we see. They are children who have been displaced from their countries due to violence and political unrest. They are young refugees seeking to rebuild their lives with their families here in Connecticut, a world away from the countries from which they fled….
Breastfeeding is Best!
By: Nancy Trout, MD The United States delegation to the United Nations World Health Assembly recently shocked the public health sector (and much of the world) by seeking to water down a resolution that called for governments to “protect, promote and support breastfeeding” and to restrict misleading advertising of food products that are harmful for…
Are We Asking the Wrong Questions About Investing in Child Health?
By: Scott Orsey Are we missing the mark when it comes to how we best invest in children’s health? Perhaps a futuristic look at the transportation sector may hold relevant and innovative solutions to transforming healthcare. I recently had the opportunity to listen to Tony Seba deliver inspiring and motivating remarks at a conference. Tony…
Summer Fellows Study Injury Prevention
By: Garry Lapidus, PA-C, MPH Summer is a busy time at Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center (IPC) because the season always brings with it an unfortunate array of preventable injuries, and we do all we can to raise awareness about the ways parents and caregivers can prevent such injuries. Through all of our media interviews…
Leveraging Science to Transform Pediatric Primary Care
“This field is too rich and too precious to settle for modest impacts. We should be raising the bar,” stated Jack Shonkoff, MD, the founding director of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child. Dr. Shonkoff delivered the annual Dworkin lecture at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, which is a Grand Rounds session named in honor…
Can We Bend the Arc Toward Justice?
By: Kimberly Martini-Carvell Yes, “…the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Whether the author of this sentiment is Theodore Parker, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., or Barack Obama, it has always comforted me in times of national and political unrest and upheaval. I use this quote to ground…
Connecting Pediatric Residents to the Community Through Capitol Squash
By: Martha Peregoy When people hear about the sport squash, they typically think of players at boarding schools and at country clubs, not urban middle school students playing after school. However, there are a growing number of organizations that bring squash to urban students. One of these programs, Capitol Squash, is right here in Hartford….
The Power of Care Coordination in Helping Families Thrive
By: Susan Roman, RN, MPH Families can find it overwhelming to arrange all of the medical care and social services needed for their children. Care coordinators offer powerful advocacy and support to help ease that burden for families. At Connecticut Children’s Center for Care Coordination, we are committed to embracing a cross-sector approach to advance…
Social Innovation Spotlight: Hartford Promise Integrated College Success Model
Innovation Spotlight is a new quarterly feature launched by Connecticut Children’s Advancing Kids Innovation Program to highlight the contributions of social innovators promoting the health and well-being of children, families and communities. Innovation Description: Hartford Promise is an integrated college success model that seeks not only to help Hartford public school students finance their college…