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Grantee Profile: Parents Get Educated About Child Development

November 24, 2008
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When parents want to learn about their child's development, most trust the family pediatrician as a source of information. This parent-doctor partnership helps support their child's growth and helps the doctor identify needs or delays as soon as possible. Unfortunately, because doctors and parents often feel rushed during visits, parents don't always share their concerns. So if there is a problem the opportunity to intervene is lost.

To help parents have meaningful conversations about their child's development with their family pediatrician, First 5 LA's Early Developmental Screening and Intervention (EDSI) initiative has partnered with local WIC (Women, Infants and Children supplemental nutrition program) centers to offer a skill-building class. Because parents go to WIC centers not only to receive food vouchers but also for other forms of support, partnering with WIC is an ideal way to give parents key messages from a trusted information source.

The focus of the 20 minute class is promoting effective parent-doctor interactions. Key messages communicated in the class include:

  • Parents are the best observers and the most knowledgeable about their child.
  • Physicians rely on parents to understand how the child is developing. These messages are especially important for parents who may feel reluctant to share their instincts and observations with their child's doctor.

"It's a good idea to write down what we observe [in] our child right away," said one parent who participated in the class. "[It's important] to write down questions ... take them to the doctor and not to be shy to ask many questions." The EDSI-WIC partnership provides a powerful opportunity to give parents practical advice and skills in what to expect from the doctor, how to prepare, and what to do if the parent has lingering concerns after a visit.

The class was piloted in the spring of 2007 in several Public Health Foundation Enterprises (PHFE) WIC centers. Starting this fall, the class has been incorporated into the education curriculum of the Northeast Valley Health Corporation and LA BioMed/South LA Health Projects WIC programs and all PHFE WIC centers in L.A. County, which accounts for the largest population receiving WIC services in the country. Through these venues the EDSI-WIC messages are reaching approximately 400,000 L.A. County families this year.

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