Pediatricians are among the few first-hand witnesses who see the effects on children of profound changes in the health and social service systems. In 1999, the AAP reaffirmed that pediatricians should “advocate especially for those who lack access to care because of social or economic conditions” and “use community data to increase their understanding of the health and social risks for children.” Therefore, it is increasingly important to train pediatricians to assume this expanded role in their communities. This session will present strategies for nurturing pediatricians’ involvement in the community, understanding of public policy, and advocacy skills. We will describe the “Pediatric Links with the Community Program,” winner of the 2000 Ambulatory Pediatric Association Outstanding Teaching Award. The PLC program is a successful model of introducing pediatric residents to the health care needs of children in the community and nurturing their future advocacy efforts on behalf of these children. This session will explore strategies for implementing this residency education curriculum, and will describe a new component of the curriculum: teaching community pediatricians how to translate what they witness in practice to public policy reform. We also will describe how to enhance the community pediatrician’s ability to identify which local and state policy issues are currently being debated, how to identify the decision-makers and stage of policy development, and how to create effective materials from existing data and organizational sources.
Learning Objectives: 1. To learn about a successful synthesis between a community pediatrics training program and public health programs
Keywords: Advocacy, Community Health
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.