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

Abstract #110418

Savithri Nageswaran, MD, MPH, Department of Pediatrics, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Medical Center Blvd, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, (336) 716 6508, snageswa@wfubmc.edu and Anita M. Farel, DrPH, Maternal and Child Health, School of Public Health, 426 Rosenau Hall, CB# 7445, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7545.

Background: A medical home is a model of care to ensure access to services for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and their families. Recent research affirms the chances of positive developmental outcomes through targeted interventions during the earliest years of life. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Maternal and Child Health Bureau actively promote the medical home through grants to state health departments to develop medical home programs. However, until recently, there have been no population-based data about access to medical homes among infants and young CSHCN. Methods: Using the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs conducted in the United States between 2000 and 2002, we report the extent to which CSHCN younger than 3 years of age have a medical home. We also describe the characteristics of infants and young children with special needs, the health services needs of these children and the impact of very young children with special health care needs on their families. Results: In the US, 54 percent of CSHCN younger than 3 years of age have a medical home. Using a logistic regression model, we found statistically significant differences among income, mother's level of education, and severity of the child's condition on access to a medical home. Conclusions: This study provides comprehensive information about infants and young CSHCN. Programs should be implemented to eliminate differences in access to a medical home among infants and young children with special health care needs.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Define the medical home concept in organizing care for infants and young children with special health care needs.
• Recognize the disparities among infants and young children with special health care needs in having access to a medical home.

Keywords: Children With Special Needs,

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 commercial supporters.