Dear ICAAP
members and friends,
The recently
published Bright Futures:
Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 4th Edition
states: “As
health care professionals, we view health not simply as the absence of disease,
but rather the presence of mental, physical, family, and social wellness.”
This quote exemplifies our deeper understanding of how social, psychological,
environmental, and economic exposures and experiences predict individual health
trajectories and risk of adverse impacts on health, behavior, and life
potential.
Because of what we now
know about the powerful influence of various determinants of health early in life,
we are called upon to be the guardians of healthy child development and to
function as community leaders to help build strong foundations for positive
social interactions, educational achievement, economic productivity,
responsible citizenship, and lifelong health.
For these reasons, I’m
encouraging ICAAP members, partners, and friends to participate in ICAAP’s 3rd Annual Autism, Behavior, and Complex Medical
Needs--Downstate (ABC-D) Conference: “Zip Code vs. Genetic Code: The Social
Determinants of Caring for Children and Families with Special Needs." The
conference will be held on Friday, April 28th at the Regency Conference Center
in O'Fallon, IL.
At the 3rd Annual ABC-D
Conference, participants (including physicians, allied health providers, and
community service providers) will learn about how where a child and family
lives (their zip code) is more predictive of their health and development than
biological factors (their genetic code) alone. More importantly, the conference
explicitly promotes cross-sector collaboration, relationship building, and
networking among multiple child-serving systems in order to more effectively
merge our traditional clinical skills with public health, population-based
approaches to health. This is important for all who serve children and
families, but particularly crucial for providers in Central and Southern
Illinois, where resources can be scarce and distances between the resources
greater.
As members of ICAAP, it
is essential that we keep in mind our mission and priority to promote the right
of all children to live happy, safe, and healthy lives. As professionals, we
understand that any single child-serving system cannot, in isolation, address
all the social,psychological, environmental, and economic needs of children and
families. In order to fulfill our mission, we must find ways to collaborate
across systems, especially as budget issues and federal/state policies put
additional pressure and burden on both providers and families.
I hope to see you on
Friday, April 28th. Thank you for all of the work that you do to
keep us moving forward.
Sincerely,
Alison S.
Tothy, MD FAAP
President Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
Learn more about the ABC-D Conference,
including session descriptions, continuing education accreditation, and other
general conference information at illinoisaap.org/conferences/abc
