Healthy Kansans 2010 Workgroup:

Early Disease Prevention, Risk Identification and Intervention for Women, Children and Adolescents

Deb Williams Facilitator

Linda Kenney Technical Assistant

Charge to the Work GroupGeneral Charge – The workgroup is charged to

develop recommendations for major policy and systems changes that can be implemented by the public, private and/or non-profit sectors and that will lead to improvements in early disease prevention, identification and intervention among women, children and adolescents in Kansas. The recommendations proposed must impact on two or more of the ten Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators.

Recommendations might be developed to include any of the following areas, as appropriate:

Overall recommendations for change; Recommendations that address improved integration and/or

better interface of existing initiatives focused on women and children;

Recommendations for public communications; Recommendations for improving surveillance and meeting

data needs; Recommendations for enhancing the current workforce; and Recommendations that are highly targeted towards a specific

population and/or which address multiple populations in a blanket approach.

Specific Charge – As it develops its recommendations, the workgroup should specifically consider at a minimum the following issues/needs as identified by the Steering Committee:

Interventions with pregnant women; Interventions for pre-conceptional health; Screening programs; Substance abuse during and immediately following pregnancy; Early childhood interventions (0-5 years); School-based initiatives (6-21 years); After-school programs (6-21 years); Chronic disease risk factors including tobacco use, physical

inactivity and poor nutrition; Disease prevention and management for asthma, cancer, diabetes,

cardiovascular, etc.; Immunization programs; Injury – intentional and unintentional; and Oral health

Three Recommendations1. Assure access to health care and preventive

services for children and parents.

2. Integrate efforts to affect the whole child’s emotional and social well-being.

3. Promote the development and adoption of healthy lifestyles.

Strategies for

1) Assure access to health care and preventive services for children and parents:

A) Develop health provider workforce capacity (including those who work in mental health with 0-21 year olds)

B) Expand Health Wave eligibility and utilization for women of reproductive age, pregnant women, children and parents/guardians.

C) Assure preventive and restorative oral health services for pregnant women, children and adolescents.

Strategies for:

2) Integrate efforts to affect the whole child’s emotional and social well-being:

A)    Promote healthy parenting and other caregiving (guardians, foster care, child care, pre-school, community support, schools, etc. for children and adolescents to assure health and emotional and social well-being. (e.g. Implement David Olds Model Nurse Home Visitor Program)

B)     Train child and youth community contacts/leaders to assess and address the whole child including mental health, oral health and abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

Strategies for:

3) Promote the development and adoption of healthy lifestyles: 

A)    Educate and provide skills to Kansans, especially children and adolescents, regarding healthy lifestyles that impact the 10 leading health indicators

B)    Assure that the environment (home, community, school, worksite) supports and promotes Healthy Habits (good dietary choices, daily physical activity, tobacco free environment and breastfeeding in a manner consistent with Best Practices).

Priorities:

Recommendation Strategies Action steps, #votes

1. Assure Access A)Workforce CapacityB) Expand Health WaveC) Oral health services

1

2 41

2. Integrate Whole Child

A) Healthy parenting, caregivingB) Train youth community leaders/contactsC) Expand Immunization Registry

1 

1 

3. Healthy Lifestyles

A) Educate kidsB) Environmental support 

2

4 6

Workforce – capacity development Begin promoting health careers at a young

age * Create career pathways * Recruit health professionals and para-

professionals from low income population * Train allied health professionals to screen for

dental decay * Train allied health professionals to better

serve people with disabilities

Health Care Access Increase Health Wave eligibility for pregnant

women from 150%-200% * Assure continuous coverage in Health Wave

for children * Increase participation of oral health care

providers* Early childhood mental health Mental health reimbursement beyond

Community Health Centers

Community Capacity Training to home visitors * Healthy Child/Family Charter – consistent

message * Support development of “healthy community” * Seek non-traditional funding resources Support communities in addressing their

priorities at their pace

Work place Support breastfeeding Adopt clean indoor air legislation for all

workplaces and public places *

Schools/Early Child Education

Comprehensive Nutrition Policies Adopt 24/7 tobacco free school grounds * Expand Parents as Teachers, Head Start Collect BMI at specified intervals as part of

school assessments Promote adoption of state standards for health

education and physical education *

Environment/Systems Change Develop state mental health plan-assure inclusion of

early childhood/child mental health Address abuse and neglect issues, including lack for

mental health counselors specializing in child mental health *

Assure environmental supports for healthy child/family charter *

Promote modeling healthy lifestyles behavior to children *

Environment/Systems Change, cont. Recognize efforts to influence behaviors of

children and parents Develop and implement state obesity plan * Support implementation of comprehensive

tobacco use prevention * Assure fluoridation of public water supplies

in Kansas communities

Data,Evaluation/Communication Explore adding additional indicators to the

Immunization Registry Use technology to expand availability of lay

education materials Use “branding” and “viral infectious media”

to promote Healthy Child/Family Charter Coordinate messages, dissemination,

evaluation

Summary Develop and Implement Obesity Plan Create Healthy Child/Family Charter Support Comprehensive Tobacco Use

Prevention Increase Health Wave Eligibility for pregnant

women State standards for health education and

physical education

Summary, cont. Develop/support Health Career pathways Continuous coverage for HealthWave Training for home visitors/caregivers for

screening and intervention Comprehensive nutrition policies for early

education through high school Healthy Communities self-assessment to

support Healthy Habits