Family Support In Community Pediatrics

Written by a pediatrician for pediatric clinicians on the front line in response to the ever increasing obligations they acquire for the well being of children, this book focuses on the potential of health care to impact the social morbidities that affect children's health. Dr. Rushton does not suggest that child health practitioners must do more, but rather they must reorient their efforts in order to achieve optimal outcomes for children.

As specialists in child health, pediatric clinicians have skills they can utilize to ensure better outcomes for children, but doing so will require a reorganization of health supervision and the establishment of links with other social services. Group visits, psychosocial screening, school health, public-private partnerships, home visitation, parent-child centers, and use of auxiliary anticipatory guidance specialists are all tools described in the development of a coordinated, community-based, family-centered approach to pediatric health care supervision.

This is a book for private practitioners, community health professionals, academicians who support them, and all those others who want to ensure that our children are nurtured by the child health care system. The crux of this book is to provide a template for thoughtful consideration by the thousands of pediatric providers who care deeply about their profession.

Review: This book addresses critical issues for pediatrics. Family support in the context of a child health supervision visit is now considered an essential part of child health care. With the stresses being imposed on families today, it is critically important for health care providers to assist parents in providing a nurturing environment for their children.

Community resources should also be called upon to support families in meeting the special needs of their children. -James E. Strain, M.D. Former Executive Director, American Academy of Pediatrics