Pediatric & Family Health
Purpose:
The Pediatric and Family Health Committee is comprised of leaders in pediatric and family health in the public and private sectors. The Committee will provide a forum for shared leadership, coordinated planning and strategic communication to improve the health outcomes of all infants, toddlers, young children and their families in Michigan. The work of this committee concerns: access, quality, standards, capacity, innovation, evidence-based practice and research, workforce development, finance and interface with other components, (program and service integration) with a specific focus on addressing racial, cultural and ethnic disparities in the context of this component.
Chair:
Pending new appointment from ECIC Executive Committee.
The Chair also serves as a member of the Strategic Planning Committee of the ECIC Executive Committee.
Co-Chair:
Pending appointment from the Michigan Department of Community Health.
Staffed By:
Jodi Spicer, ECIC Consultant
221 N. Pine Street
Lansing, MI 48933
(517) 526-0752
(517) 333-7101 Fax
jspicer@ecic4kids.org
Scope of Work:
- Update and advise implementation of Physical Health Component of Great Start System Blueprint.
- Convene task force(s) as needed to address priority focus areas as determined through update of Great Start System Blueprint.
- Advise on component specific resource materials, technical assistance and consultation.
- Plan and host a stakeholder convening on research and best practices in pediatric and family health.
- Make recommendations to ECIC Strategic Planning Committee of the Board regarding the ECIC workplan for this component.
Related Resources:
Do investments in children�s health programs reap benefits beyond the costs?
In this paper, Dr. Bernard Guyer and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University examine the costs
of four specific types of young children�s health problems - exposure to tobacco smoke,
unintentional injury, mental health problems, and obesity - and review over 300 studies of a
range of interventions to address them. While results vary for each health issue, the bottom line is
that investing in early childhood health makes economic sense.
Click here to read (PDF file)
National Children's Health Study
What is the National Children's Study?
The National Children's Study will examine the effects of environmental influences on the health and development of more than 100,000 children across the United States, following them from before birth until age 21. The goal of the study is to improve the health and well-being of children.
The study defines "environment" broadly and will take a number of issues into account, including:
- Natural and man-made environment factors
- Biological and chemical factors
- Physical surroundings
- Social factors
- Behavioral influences and outcomes
- Genetics
- Cultural and family influences and differences
- Geographic locations
Researchers will analyze how these elements interact with each other and what helpful and/or harmful effects they might have on children's health. By studying children through their different phases of growth and development, researchers will be better able to understand the role of these factors on health and disease. Findings from the study will be made available as soon as possible as the research progresses.
The study will also allow scientists to find the differences that exist between groups of people, in terms of their health, health care access, disease occurrence, and other issues, so that these differences or disparities can be addressed.
The National Children's Study will be one of the richest information resources available for answering questions related to children's health and development and will form the basis of child health guidance, interventions, and policy for generations to come. It is anticipated that the preliminary results from the first years of the study will be available in 2009-2010.
Associated Articles:
Crain's Detroit News Story: Children's health study to get $18.5M
An alliance of three Michigan universities, two local hospitals and at least three government agencies will get $18.5 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health for the first five years of a long-term study into children's health and development.
The NIH allocation is for Michigan's portion of the upcoming National Children's Study, a broad sampling and study of children from birth to age 21 believed to be the most ambitious of its kind in the nation.
Project partners in the Michigan Alliance for the National Children's Study include Michigan State University, the University of Michigan, Wayne State University, DMC-Children's Hospital of Michigan, Henry Ford Health System, Michigan Department of Community Health, and Wayne County and Detroit health departments.
Alliance members said Thursday that MSU is the primary grant recipient and the others will receive suballocations for their portions and roles in the study.
Starting in 2009, the alliance will begin screening applicants from Wayne County for a sample pool of 1,000 women who are trying to become pregnant or in their first trimester of pregnancy. Eventually, the study is to expand to a study sample of 5,000 children and their parents in Wayne, Genesee, Grand Traverse, Lenawee and Macomb counties. The researchers plan to enroll participants from all major ethnic groups and varying socio-economic strata in proportion to their share of the local population.
Directing the Michigan project will be Nigel Paneth, MSU professor of epidemiology, and pediatrics and human development.
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