Clinician Manuals on Screening for Parental Depression and Child Development Now Available
<p>Several Commonwealth Fund-supported manuals for pediatric providers are now available for free download on the Fund's Web site.<br><br><a href="/publications/fund-manuals/2007/apr/parental-depression-screening-for-pediatric-clinicians--an-implementation-manual
">Parental Depression Screening for Pediatric Clinicians: An Implementation Manual</a>, by Ardis Olson, M.D., and Cecelia Gaffney, M.Ed., was designed to guide health providers in conducting routine screening for parental depression and referring parents to counseling services. The manual is based on the findings of the Dartmouth Parental Well-Being Project, which tested practical approaches over a six-month period with more than 9,000 parents.<br><br><a href="/innovations/innovations_show.htm?doc_id=372065">A Practical Guide for Improving Child Developmental Services</a> was created to help pediatric practices redesign their office systems to improve the quality of preventive and developmental services. The resources--which include checklists, surveys, bibliographies, and more--were developed and tested in the Healthy Development Learning Collaborative, a year-long quality improvement initiative in which primary care practices in Vermont and North Carolina used improved office systems to engage families in efforts to promote positive developmental outcomes.<br><br>Another manual, <a href="/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=462069 ">How to Develop a Statewide System to Link Families with Community Resources</a>, offers guidance for creating or enhancing a system to connect children at risk for developmental or behavioral problems with community resources. The manual is based on Connecticut's Help Me Grow program, which aids families and providers in identifying developmental concerns in children up to age 8, establishing an inventory of appropriate resources, and connecting with programs and services.<br><br>Finally, a set of <a href="/innovations/innovations_show.htm?doc_id=364630">manuals</a> offers guidance to state officials, physician practices, and health systems on how to implement the Promoting Health Development Survey (PHDS), a parent survey used to assess and improve the quality of preventive and developmental care provided to young children.</p>