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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Janice M. Ranne, MA CCC-SLP, Clare Houseman, PhD, and John L. Echternach, EdD. College of Health Sciences, Old Dominion University, 4939 Entiat River Rd, Entiat, WA 98822, (509) 784-1487, jrann001@odu.edu

Problem: Public policy provides the right to early intervention services, as needed, for all children, birth to three years old. Most children with communication delay are not identified until kindergarten age. Developmental screenings can identify young children at risk for communication delay. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to test the power of the New Model of Children's Health and Its Influences (National Research Council and Institute of Medicine 2004) to predict health service effectiveness. Communication delay affects a large number of children in the U.S. Communication ability begins at birth. Delays in communication ability are identifiable in the first few months following birth. Methods: We use a concurrent mixed methods design to examine longitudinal, quasi-experimental and phenomenological data to understand the influences of social and physical environments, biology and behavior, as predictors of children's receipt of developmental screenings. The study population involved data on children 4 weeks to 36 months old, from the Healthy Steps for Young Children Program national evaluation by the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University. Results: The likelihood of infants and toddlers receiving developmental screenings to identify potential communication delay is mediated individually and/or interactively by social and physical environments, biology, and behavior, which may cue health service providers to provide the developmental screenings and to refer young children to early intervention services. Conclusions: Various influences in the lives of infants and toddlers cue health service providers to become more effective in the care of young children through provision of developmental screenings.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify features of young children’s social and physical environments, biology and behavior that may indicate a need for developmental screenings.
• Describe the relationships between the four main areas of influence as they impact children’s communication development, within the context of the New Model of Children’s Health and Its Influences.
• Discuss how useful the model is for predicting health service effectiveness.

Keywords: Child Health Promotion, Health Service

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered