Connecticut Children Medical Center’s Office for Community Child Health has launched a new initiative to help pediatric practices across the United States identify and assist children at risk of “toxic stress.”
Toxic stress is a frequent or prolonged stress response to adversity such as domestic violence, emotional abuse, chronic neglect, parental substance abuse or mental illness, and other family hardships. Left unchecked – and without the protective presence of a supportive adult – toxic stress in children can have damaging effects on learning, behavior and health, according to a Connecticut Children’s Medical Center news release.
“Cumulative stress has a so-called ‘toxic effect’ on children’s well-being and can contribute to long-term health issues, such as adult heart disease and malignancies, as well as mental illness,” Dr. Paul Dworkin, executive vice president for Community Child Health at CCMC, said.
The Office for Community Child Health will use the strategies of its Help Me Grow National Center to help pediatric practices across the country assess and mitigate the impact of toxic stress in children, the hospital said.
“We will support pediatric practices in the early detection of children at risk for developmental and behavioral problems, and ensure that these children and their families are linked to community-based programs and services that strengthen protective factors, such as family resiliency and parents’ understanding of their children’s developmental stages and needs,” Dworkin said.
Help Me Grow, a statewide program of the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood, helps families with children at risk for developmental or behavioral problems find local support and services through a central call center. With support from the Help Me Grow National Center at Connecticut Children’s, more than 25 states and territories are replicating the program.
“Over the next three years, our responsibility will be to bring [the program] to scale and impact within pediatric practices selected to serve as testing sites and learning laboratories under coordination by the Center for the Study of Social Policy,” Dworkin said. “If the communities selected are not already part of the Help Me Grow network, we will work with them to implement the program.”
Specifically, the Help Me Grow National Center at CCMC will provide technical assistance and training at the community level for the testing sites. The center will deliver existing pediatric practice tools, such as EPIC – Educating Practices in the Community – and MOC – Maintenance of Certification – and other physician- and parent-engagement strategies on topics related to the effective mitigation of toxic stress and the promotion of children’s healthy development. It will also develop modules on the use of toxic stress screening tools, parenting support and other topics.
In addition, the center will engage pediatric practices in continuous quality improvement, with a focus on developmental promotion, early detection and intervention. The center will also enhance the collection, tracking and sharing of data among pediatric practices, Help Me Grow systems and community-based programs and services that serve children and families.
