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ICAAP
Despite rhetoric at the federal
level, Illinois’ struggles are a reality that will not end in the
foreseeable future. Illinois had been without a state budget for over two
years. Vital organizations that serve our children, families, and
communities have either scaled services back dramatically or have
disappeared. Yet the basic needs for attention to health for children with
special needs, their families, and the communities in which they live are
still very visible. From the perspective of a statewide organization, the
uncertainty we have been living with here in Illinois has contributed
trauma and toxic stress for so long, many of us are stunned, frustrated,
and angry. While we may be in a unique position to help, we are also
vulnerable to the stress and challenges of working with children with
special needs who suffer their own psychological and physical realities. We
endure compassion fatigue—the cost of caring.
All of these factors impact the physical,
mental, and behavioral health of children and families. They also impact
our ability, as those who serve the community, to be empathetic and
emotionally effective in our work. Therefore, there is a greater need for
sharing tools and supports that enable providers to recognize and address
some new truths about the realities of health from children’s social,
economic, physical, and educational environments.
On Friday, November 17, 2017, ICAAP will
host the 8th ABC (Autism, Behavior, and Complex Medical Needs) Conference
at the Moraine Business and Conference Center in Palos Hills, IL. This
year, the conference theme is, “Lives in the Balance: Caring for Children
with Special Needs, Their Families, Their Communities, and Ourselves in
These Precarious Times.” This conference will deliver valuable information
about navigating the current realities of service delivery, advocating for
those we serve, and professional self-care, family self-care, and community
self-care in order to enable providers across many disciplines to recognize
and address these realities when caring for children and families with
special healthcare needs, including those impacted by trauma and adverse
childhood experiences.
Register for the conference HERE! For more information on continuing
education, session descriptions, and general conference details, see the conference brochure, visit the conference website, or contact Elise Groenewegen at egroenewegen@illinoisaap.com.
Illinois Department of Public Health
August
is National Immunization Awareness month. Vaccines are one of the most
cost-effective and successful public health tools that are available to
prevent disease and health. Unfortunately however, many parents still
remain hesitant on vaccinating their children. IDPH has recently released a
toolkit that helps to address these issues.
The toolkit includes:
- Health Care Provider Commitment for Exam Room - designed to stimulate conversation about
vaccines, this should be printed and displayed in exam rooms.
Providers have the opportunity to add their signatures/pictures to the
template to attest that they are partnering with IDPH to vaccinate
Illinois children.
- Immunization Infographic - (included in this email) can be used online - on
websites or social media - and/or printed for exam rooms
- CDC Fact Sheet on Vaccine Hesitancy (for health
care providers) -
provides talking points for providers to use when discussing vaccines
with concerned parents
- IDPH Fact Sheet on Vaccine Hesitancy (for community health workers) - provides talking
points for community health workers to use when discussing vaccines
- Immunization Action Coalition's Top 10 Reasons
to Vaccine Your Child - English and Spanish
- IDPH Immunization Information - IDPH website
that includes links to vaccine requirements, forms, and disease
information
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Save the Date — Bridging the Gap: Emerging Health Issues
in Underrepresented Minorities
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University of Illinois at Chicago
The
Departments of Surgery, Medicine, and Emergency Medicine at the University
of Illinois at Chicago are hosting an event on October 4, 2017 about issues
facing minorities, including violence and healthcare. The event will be
held at the UIC Student Center West. More information will be available
soon.
ICAAP
Two
recorded webinars on the health effects of climate change are now available
on ICAAP's eLearning platform. The first webinar
focuses on climate change’s impact on air quality, respiratory health, and
heat-related illnesses and the second discusses climate change’s impact on
vector borne illnesses, extreme weather events, and mental health. The
webinars were presented by Samuel Dorevitch, MD, MPH, and Elena Grossman,
MPH, with the Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) Project,
University of Illinois at Chicago , Environmental and Occupational Health
Sciences, School of Public Health. Create an account to access the materials.
 *The Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1
Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with
the extent of their participation in the activity.
Illinois Department of Public Health
As
a reminder, students entering kindergarten (or first grade if not
previously enrolled in kindergarten), sixth grade, and ninth grade at any
Illinois public or private school (including charter schools) must provide
proof of physical examination on a form approved by both the Illinois
Department of Public Health and the Illinois State Board of Education.
Students entering an Illinois school from out of state or out of country
for the first time at any grade level must also provide the physical exam
form. The exam must be completed no earlier than a year (365 days) prior to
the start of attendance at an Illinois school. The current school health
form can be found in English
and Spanish on the IDPH website.
WNIU-FM
After
18 years serving the Metro East region of Illinois, pediatrician Kristin
Stahl is crafting an exit strategy and may eventually close her practice.
Two years of unpaid bills during the state’s budget impasse have driven her
into debt and to the end of her patience. “The state has historically been
so terrible in its payments that it’s very difficult to keep in business,”
Stahl said. READ
MORE
WLS-TV
Illinois
is making it easier to prosecute sex abuse crimes against children.
Governor Bruce Rauner signed legislation that removes the statutes of
limitation for those crimes. Sex abuse victims are calling the new law a
great step forward. They say pursuing justice criminally will help with the
closure process. READ
MORE
Infectious Diseases in Children
The
belief that vaccinations are primarily important for infants is held by 23
percent of parents and 23 percent of teenagers, with less than 50 percent
of male and 65 percent of female teenagers vaccinated against human
papillomavirus, according to a recent survey conducted by Unity Consortium.
READ
MORE
AAP News
Children
who get more sleep have fewer risk factors for type 2 diabetes (T2D),
according to a new study. However, more research is needed to determine if
there is a causal relationship, researchers said in the Pediatrics
study "Sleep Duration and Risk of Type 2 Diabetes." For adults,
getting too much or not enough sleep both have been linked with adiposity
and T2D. In children, more sleep has been tied to lower levels of obesity,
but research about T2D risk factors has been scarce. READ
MORE
HealthDay News
Hundreds
of thousands of cases of diarrhea in young children have been prevented
since routine vaccination against rotavirus began in the U.S. a decade ago,
a new study shows. That has translated into a savings of more than $1
billion in medical costs, the researchers added. Rotavirus is a common
cause of diarrhea in infants and young children in the U.S. READ
MORE
Medical Xpress
Premature
birth, which affects one in 10 U.S. babies, is associated with altered
metabolite profiles in the infants' cerebellum, the part of the brain that
controls coordination and balance, a team led by Children's National Health
System clinician-researchers report Aug. 15, 2017 in Scientific Reports.
Pre-term infants in the study had significantly lower levels of a chemical
marker of nerve cell integrity and significantly higher concentrations of a
chemical marker of cellular membrane turnover. READ
MORE
Medical News Today
A
wide range of small studies have lately been suggesting that children who
own or interact with a pet have better physical and psychological health.
But the largest study of its kind to date now disproves this hypothesis.
The new study was carried out by researchers at RAND corporation, a
nonprofit think tank and part of RAND Health, which is an independent
healthy policy research program. READ
MORE
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