Injury Prevention Resources for Health Care Providers

Anticipatory Guidance

Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents
These guidelines were developed by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau and the American Academy of Pediatrics "to provide comprehensive health supervision guidelines, including recommendations on immunizations, routine health screenings, and anticipatory guidance. The major risks to children's health and development, particularly after infancy, are largely preventable. The leading cause of death for children over age 1 is injury, including motor vehicle crashes, firearms, and drowning. Well-child care (or health supervision) provides a vehicle for health professionals to promote healthy lifestyle choices, monitor children for physical and behavioral pathology, and provide age appropriate and individualized counseling (or anticipatory guidance)." Ordering information can be obtained at: http://www.aap.org/bst/showprod.cfm?&DID=15&CATID=132&ObjectGroup_ID=812

Virginia Department of Health Web Course
The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) has developed and launched a Web-based training course "Promoting Child and Adolescent Health: Bright Futures and EPSDT" to encourage the integration of the Bright Futures Guidelines into daily practice. The Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Department of Medical Assistance Services partnered on this project with the goals of promoting quality health care for children and increasing the number of adolescents who receive regular health supervision. In Virginia, as in the rest of the country, less than 40 per cent of adolescents have annual health care assessments.

In 2001, the Bright Futures Guidelines for supervising the care of infants, children, and adolescents through age 21 were adopted as Virginia's standard of care. VDH, along with the Departments of Education and Medical Assistance Services, have embraced this as the framework for high quality child and adolescent health management and promotion. The Guidelines redirect current clinical protocols from their emphasis on treatment to a broader framework that promotes the physical, emotional, mental, and social well being of children. They encourage health professionals to build partnerships with families. And, they recognize that each visit presents the opportunity to assess the health of the child's development, and to educate and support both the family and the child in developing healthy, lifelong habits.

The training provides an overview of Bright Futures, and links the use of Bright Futures teachings and tools to meeting EPSDT requirements. The target audience for the web course includes physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, social workers, registered dieticians, dentists, and mental health workers who work with children, birth through age 21. Upon completion of all modules, the individual will qualify for up to 7 hours of CME/CEU. The training does not need to be completed in one sitting. A great benefit of Web-based training is that it can conform to the schedule and lifestyle of the learner. The URL for registration for the course is http://www.vcu-cme.org/bf/.

Additional Patient Education Materials

Virginia Department of Health Safety Tip Cards
http://www.vahealth.org/civp/pubscivp.asp

American Academy of Pediatrics' TIPP (The Injury Prevention Program) Safety Program materials
http://www.aap.org/bst/showprod.cfm?&DID=15&CATID=138&ObjectGroup_ID=811

Additional American Academy of Pediatrics' Safety, First Aid, and Emergency Resources
http://www.aap.org/healthtopics/safety.cfm
http://www.aap.org/bst/showprod.cfm?&DID=15&CATID=138&ObjectGroup_ID=803