Communicating with Parents about Developmental Screening in Primary Care

Sices, Laura; Shapiro, Nicole M.; Augustyn, Marilyn; Vos, Edward De

doi:10.1097/01.dbp.0000390261.10142.6b

Cited by 7 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…It was also recognised that the uptake of developmental screening was limited and influenced by a variety of factors. Similar findings of variability in the use of screening tools for developmental surveillance have been reported from Canada and North America [ 57 ]. It is known from survey studies that most doctors report using developmental milestone lists or informal checklists as part of an overall strategy of developmental surveillance [ 58 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Health professional perceptions regarding screening tools for developmental surveillance for children in a multicultural part of Sydney, Australia

Garg

Eastwood

et al. 2018

BMC Fam Pract

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BackgroundEncouraging early child development and the early identification of developmental difficulties is a priority. The Ministry of Health in the Australian State of New South Wales (NSW), has recommended a program of developmental surveillance using validated screening questionnaires, namely, the Parents’ Evaluation of Development Status (PEDS) and Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQs), however, the use of these tools has remained sub-optimal. A longitudinal prospective birth cohort “Watch Me grow” study was carried out in the South Western Sydney (SW) region of NSW to ascertain the uptake as well as the strategies and the resources required to maximise engagement in the surveillance program. This paper reports on a qualitative component of the study examining the attitudes, enablers and barriers to the current developmental surveillance practices, with reference to screening tools, amongst health professionals.MethodsQualitative data from 37 primary health care providers in a region of relative disadvantage in Sydney was analysed.ResultsThe major themes that emerged from the data were the “difficulties/problems” and “positives/benefits” of surveillance in general, and “specificity” of the tools which were employed. Barriers of time, tool awareness, knowledge and access of referral pathways, and services were important for the physician providers, while the choice of screening tools and access to these tools in other languages were raised as important issues by Child and Family Health Nurses (CFHN). The use of these tools by health professionals was also influenced by what the professionals perceived as the parents’ understanding of their child’s development. While the PEDS and ASQs was utilised by CFHNs, both General Practitioners (GPs) and paediatricians commented that they lacked awareness of developmental screening tools and highlighted further training needs.ConclusionsThe results highlight the practical challenges to, and limited knowledge and uptake of, the use of recommended screening tools as part of developmental surveillance. There is a need for further research regarding the most effective integrated models of care which will allow for a better collaboration between parents and service providers and improve information sharing between different professionals such as CFHNs GPs, Practices nurses and Paediatricians involved in screening and surveillance programs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Health professional perceptions regarding screening tools for developmental surveillance for children in a multicultural part of Sydney, Australia

Garg

Eastwood

et al. 2018

BMC Fam Pract

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“…Increasingly, mental health professionals acknowledge that infants and toddlers can suffer from significant mental health disorders and that these difficulties can have a lasting impact on their development. Unfortunately many pediatricians, psychologists, and other professionals still take a “wait and see” attitude toward behaviors and symptoms of concern in very young children (Sices, 2007). Parents may not seek services for their baby because they lack understanding of warning signs or because of the stigma associated with acknowledging that their child has a “mental health problem.” To support policy development, more work is needed to understand these phenomena and to identify appropriate, evidence-based interventions (Egger & Angold, 2006).…”

Section: Defining Infant and Early Childhood Mental Healthmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Early screening for developmental delays and disrupted social–emotional development has received increasing attention as a way of preventing later problems or reducing the severity of developmental problems (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2006; Sices, 2007). One system of screening for developmental delays is delivered through the Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program under Medicaid.…”

Section: Examples Of Current Infant Mental Health Policy Initiativesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities in public policy to support infant and early childhood mental health: The role of psychologists and policymakers.

Nelson¹,

Mann²

2011

American Psychologist

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Infant and early childhood mental health practices can be supported by policies and professional standards of care that foster the healthy development of young children. Policies that support infants and toddlers include those that strengthen their families to provide a family environment that promotes mental wellness. Policy issues for infants, toddlers, and young children have come to the forefront of thinking as children need a "voice" to advocate for their support and care. This article (a) highlights several important policy areas that support the social-emotional development of very young children and (b) gives examples of current policy accomplishments and challenges. The article offers a policy agenda to promote the mental health of infants and young children and suggests ways that psychologists can engage with policymakers to promote policies that foster infant mental health, including contributing to the knowledge base that informs policy decisions, educating the public and policymakers about early childhood development and mental wellness, forming community partnerships to identify and address infant mental health risks, and participating in the development of policy recommendations that improve access to evidence-based practices in infant mental health.

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“…Unfortunately, a significant proportion of children with developmental delays do not receive early intervention [ 3 ]. Barriers to routine healthcare screening include limited health system resources, insufficient training, and knowledge among primary care providers, as well as inaccessibility to healthcare services in underserved communities [ 3 – 7 ]. In addition, the evidence base [ 1 ] and ecological validity [ 8 ] of the tools providers use vary extensively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The feasibility of a crowd-based early developmental milestone tracking application

2022

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Objective Parents’ tracking of developmental milestones can assist healthcare providers with early detection of developmental delays and appropriate referrals to early intervention. Crowdsourcing is one way to update the content and age data distribution of developmental checklists for parents and providers. This feasibility study examined which developmental milestones parents chose to track and what they added beyond traditional milestones, using the babyTRACKS crowd-based mobile app. Method We analyzed the developmental diaries of 3,832 children, registered in the babyTRACKS app at an average age of 9.3 months. Their parents recorded a median of 5 milestones per diary, selecting from the accumulating lists of age-appropriate milestones or authoring new milestones. The final database included 645 types of milestones; 89.15% were developmental, of which 43.6% were comparable to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) milestones while the rest were crowd-authored. Milestones were categorized into developmental domains: Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Oral Motor, Self-Care, Cognitive, Language Comprehension, Speech, Non-Verbal Communication, Social, Emotional, and Regulation. Results On average, the milestone domains of Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Cognitive and Social were the most added to diaries (20%-30% of a diary). Within the Cognitive, Speech and Language Comprehension domains there were significantly more CDC comparable versus crowd-authored milestones (29% versus 21%, 22% versus 10%, 8% versus 4%). In contrast, within the Regulation and Oral Motor domains there were more crowd versus CDC milestones (17% versus 3%, 9% versus 3%). Crowd-authored Speech milestones were significantly older by 7 months than CDC milestones. Conclusion Tracking daily observations of child development provides a window into personally relevant milestones for the child and parent. The crowd of parents can independently track and add new milestones across main developmental domains. Regulation and Oral Motor development especially interest parents. Parents may be less aware of early progress in Language Comprehension and Speech; thus, these domains require more structured screening. Designing mobile early screening which is crowd-based engages parents as proactive partners in developmental tracking.

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Communicating with Parents about Developmental Screening in Primary Care

Cited by 7 publications

References 0 publications

Health professional perceptions regarding screening tools for developmental surveillance for children in a multicultural part of Sydney, Australia

Health professional perceptions regarding screening tools for developmental surveillance for children in a multicultural part of Sydney, Australia

Opportunities in public policy to support infant and early childhood mental health: The role of psychologists and policymakers.

The feasibility of a crowd-based early developmental milestone tracking application

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