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Providing Medical Consultation
to Child Care Facilities
Social and economic changes have resulted in an increased amount of
our children's lives being spent in care outside the home. According
to 2006 data from the Department of Family Protective Services (DFPS) Child
Care Licensing Division, there were 10,695 licensed centers/homes; 7,488
registered homes; and 3,895 listed homes. As a result, our children face challenging new
morbidity issues. Many of the threats to the children's health
arise from problems that are best addressed in the place where they
are the most apparent--the child care setting. Physician and
other health care professional's interaction with care givers and
knowledge of the problems faced in this setting are essential to
their remaining an effective asset to child health.
The Texas Department of
State Health Services,
Texas Medical Association, Texas Pediatric Society, and Texas Academy of Family
Physicians
recognize that if physicians and other health care professionals combine efforts with the
child care community, the relationship could
be very beneficial to both parties and make great
strides toward the ultimate goal: improved health and
safety of children in child care.
This CME module is a
guide to help physicians, residents, physician assistants, and
nurse practitioners become involved with child care centers in
our communities. It is a summary of the contributions they can make--contributions
that will require a minimum amount
of time and effort, but will have a great
impact on the health and safety of our
children. The lists of health-related topics and
suggested services and resources were
developed by local health care professionals
after surveying the needs of child care
providers in Texas and consultation with
similar programs in other states.
The guide includes a
"Consultation Topics" section which provides insight into
some of the most common health and safety
problems faced by child care providers. This
section includes information about how
specific issues relate to the child care
setting, ideas for the physician to address
those issues, and helpful available resources.
Most of
the
information in this CME module has been derived from four
primary resources: the American
Academy of Pediatrics' publication
"Caring for Our Children - National Health and
Safety Performance Standards: Guidelines for Out-of-Home Child Care Programs,"
AAP's "Stepping Stones to Using
'Caring for Our Children',"
the National Training Institute for Child Care Health Consultants (NTI CCHC)
training curriculum,
and especially Healthy Child Care Jacksonville's "First Steps to Promoting
Health and Safety in Children" Resource Guide.
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