Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #100127

Karen Benjamin, MPH, CHES¹, Diane Abatemarco, PhD, MSW¹, Anna Samedova, MPH¹, Steven Kairys, MD, MPH², Linda Carroll, RN², Tammy Hurley³, and Ruth S. Gubernick, MPH⁴. (1) UMDNJ-School of Public Health, 683 Hoes Lane West, Piscataway, NJ 08854, (732) 235-8269, benjamka@umdnj.edu, (2) Department of Pediatrics, Jersey Shore Medical Center, Route 33, Neptune, NJ 07754, (3) American Academy of Pediatrics, 141 Northwest Point Blvd., Elk Grove Village, IL 60007, (4) Consultant-Maternal & Child Health Prog. Devel. Specialist, 5 Woodbury Drive, Cherry Hill, NJ 08003

Anticipatory guidance is a regular part of pediatric care, and there is an expanding literature about the potential for maturing the practice of pediatrics to include child abuse and neglect prevention. As part of the Practicing Safety Project, tools and materials related to healthy development indicators were introduced to six pediatric practices in New Jersey to increase and improve the anticipatory guidance provided to the parents of young children. One component of the project's comprehensive evaluation involved a retrospective review of patient medical records to assess existing documentation of anticipatory guidance provided at well-child visits in each of seven areas: sleeping and feeding, coping with crying, effective discipline, toilet training, safety in others' care, parent nurturing, and family and the environment. Three hundred medical charts of children under the age of four were reviewed. A full analysis of the results will be presented. Preliminary findings suggest that delivery of anticipatory guidance may be limited. This baseline data is useful for understanding whether or not pediatric practices are including and documenting anticipatory guidance as part of their standard well-child care. The information will also be used by Practicing Safety to compare with medical chart review data collected near completion of the project. Additionally, it will be used as process data to determine the needs of individual practices and guide modification and development of supplementary tools and materials. The information may also be used to investigate reimbursement for such services, which can be critical for families, but time-intensive for pediatric practices.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the role of anticipatory guidance in the prevention of child abuse and neglect. Identify the qualitative and quantitative methods used to assess the anticipatory guidance provided in pediatric offices. Recognize the benefit of using multiple methods to assess and improve preventive pratices.

Keywords: Prevention, Quality Improvement

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commertial supporters WITH THE EXCEPTION OF grant.