Training The Future Child Health Care Workforce To Improve The Behavioral Health Of Children Youth And Families

Increasing numbers of evidence-based interventions have proven effective in preventing and treating behavioral disorders in children. However, the adoption of these interventions in the health care system and other systems that affect the lives of children has been slow. Moreover, with few exceptions, current training in many fields that involve the behavioral health of children falls short of meeting the needs that exist. In general, this training fails to recognize that behavioral health disorders are among the largest challenges in child health and that changing cognitive, affective, and behavioral health outcomes for children will require new and more integrated forms of care at a population level in the United States. To examine the need for workforce development across the range of health care professions working with children and families, as well as to identify innovative training models and levers to enhance training, the Forum on Promoting Children's Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health held a workshop in November 2016. Workshop panelists and participants discussed the needs for workforce development across the range of health care professions working with children, youth, and families, and identified innovative training models and levers for change to enhance training. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Research has shown that a range of adult psychiatric disorders and mental health problems originate at an early age, yet the psychiatric symptoms of an increasing number of children and adolescents are going unrecognized and untreated—there are simply not enough child psychiatric providers to meet this steadily rising demand. It is vital that advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and primary care practitioners take active roles in assessing behavioral health presentations and work collaboratively with families and other healthcare professionals to ensure that all children and adolescents receive appropriate treatment. Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health helps APRNs address the mental health needs of this vulnerable population, providing practical guidance on assessment guidelines, intervention and treatment strategies, indications for consultation, collaboration, referral, and more. Now in its second edition, this comprehensive and timely resource has been fully updated to include DSM-5 criteria and the latest guidance on assessing, diagnosing, and treating the most common behavioral health issues facing young people. New and expanded chapters cover topics including eating disorders, bullying and victimization, LGBTQ identity issues, and conducting research with high-risk children and adolescents. Edited and written by a team of accomplished child psychiatric and primary care practitioners, this authoritative volume: Provides state-of-the-art knowledge about specific psychiatric and behavioral health issues in multiple care settings Reviews the clinical manifestation and etiology of behavioral disorders, risk and management issues, and implications for practice, research, and education Offers approaches for interviewing children and adolescents, and strategies for integrating physical and psychiatric screening Discusses special topics such as legal and ethical issues, cultural influences, the needs of immigrant children, and child and adolescent mental health policy Features a new companion website containing clinical case studies to apply concepts from the chapters Designed to specifically address the issues faced by APRNs, Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health is essential reading for nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists, particularly those working in family, pediatric, community health, psychiatric, and mental health settings.

Healthy mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) development is a critical foundation for a productive adulthood. Much is known about strategies to support families and communities in strengthening the MEB development of children and youth, by promoting healthy development and also by preventing and mitigating disorder, so that young people reach adulthood ready to thrive and contribute to society. Over the last decade, a growing body of research has significantly strengthened understanding of healthy MEB development and the factors that influence it, as well as how it can be fostered. Yet, the United States has not taken full advantage of this growing knowledge base. Ten years later, the nation still is not effectively mitigating risks for poor MEB health outcomes; these risks remain prevalent, and available data show no significant reductions in their prevalence. Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development in Children and Youth: A National Agenda examines the gap between current research and achievable national goals for the next ten years. This report identifies the complexities of childhood influences and highlights the need for a tailored approach when implementing new policies and practices. This report provides a framework for a cohesive, multidisciplinary national approach to improving MEB health.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), which was signed into law in 2010, has several provisions that could greatly improve the behavioral health of children and adolescents in the United States. It requires that many insurance plans cover mental health and substance use disorder services, rehabilitative services to help support people with behavioral health challenges, and preventive services like behavioral assessments for children and depression screening for adults. These and other provisions provide an opportunity to confront the many behavioral health challenges facing youth in America. To explore how the ACA and other aspects of health care reform can support innovations to improve children's behavioral health and sustain those innovations over time, the Forum on Promoting Children's Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health held a workshop on April 1-2, 2015. The workshop explicitly addressed the behavioral health needs of all children, including those with special health needs. It also took a two-generation approach, looking at the programs and services that support not only children but also parents and families. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions of this workshop.

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.

Children are already learning at birth, and they develop and learn at a rapid pace in their early years. This provides a critical foundation for lifelong progress, and the adults who provide for the care and the education of young children bear a great responsibility for their health, development, and learning. Despite the fact that they share the same objective - to nurture young children and secure their future success - the various practitioners who contribute to the care and the education of children from birth through age 8 are not acknowledged as a workforce unified by the common knowledge and competencies needed to do their jobs well. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 explores the science of child development, particularly looking at implications for the professionals who work with children. This report examines the current capacities and practices of the workforce, the settings in which they work, the policies and infrastructure that set qualifications and provide professional learning, and the government agencies and other funders who support and oversee these systems. This book then makes recommendations to improve the quality of professional practice and the practice environment for care and education professionals. These detailed recommendations create a blueprint for action that builds on a unifying foundation of child development and early learning, shared knowledge and competencies for care and education professionals, and principles for effective professional learning. Young children thrive and learn best when they have secure, positive relationships with adults who are knowledgeable about how to support their development and learning and are responsive to their individual progress. Transforming the Workforce for Children Birth Through Age 8 offers guidance on system changes to improve the quality of professional practice, specific actions to improve professional learning systems and workforce development, and research to continue to build the knowledge base in ways that will directly advance and inform future actions. The recommendations of this book provide an opportunity to improve the quality of the care and the education that children receive, and ultimately improve outcomes for children.

Communities provide the context in which programs, principles, and policies are implemented. Their needs dictate the kinds of programs that community organizers and advocates, program developers and implementers, and researchers will bring to bear on a problem. Their characteristics help determine whether a program will succeed or fail. The detailed workings of programs cannot be separated from the communities in which they are embedded. Communities also represent the front line in addressing many behavioral health conditions experienced by children, adolescents, young adults, and their families. Given the importance of communities in shaping the health and well being of young people, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine held a workshop in June 2016, to examine the implementation of evidence- based prevention by communities. Participants examined questions related to scaling up, managing, and sustaining science in communities. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.

Children are the foundation of the United States, and supporting them is a key component of building a successful future. However, millions of children face health inequities that compromise their development, well-being, and long-term outcomes, despite substantial scientific evidence about how those adversities contribute to poor health. Advancements in neurobiological and socio-behavioral science show that critical biological systems develop in the prenatal through early childhood periods, and neurobiological development is extremely responsive to environmental influences during these stages. Consequently, social, economic, cultural, and environmental factors significantly affect a child's health ecosystem and ability to thrive throughout adulthood. Vibrant and Healthy Kids: Aligning Science, Practice, and Policy to Advance Health Equity builds upon and updates research from Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity (2017) and From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development (2000). This report provides a brief overview of stressors that affect childhood development and health, a framework for applying current brain and development science to the real world, a roadmap for implementing tailored interventions, and recommendations about improving systems to better align with our understanding of the significant impact of health equity.