​
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)
  • For information and guidance for health care professionals regarding COVID-19, click here​. 
  • For a list of frequently asked questions related to COVID-19 (including information related to 
    well-visits), click here. 
  • For families​, visit HealthyChildren.org​.
Bright Futures

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Bright Futures is a national health promotion and prevention initiative, led by the American Academy of Pediatrics and supported, in part, by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)​, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)​. The Bright Futures Guidelines provide theory-based and evidence-driven guidance for all preventive care screenings and well-child visits. Bright Futures content can be incorporated into many public health programs such as home visiting, child care, school-based health clinics, and many others. Materials developed especially for families are also available.​  

 Features
  • For Professionals

    • Bright Futures Implementation Tip Sheets

      These NEW and UPDATED tip sheets offer practical advice to help you integrate the Bright Futures approach, tools and resources into your daily practice.Learn more

    • Bright Futures Tool and Resource Kit, 2nd Edition NEW!

      Completely updated Toolkit corresponding with the Bright Futures Guidelines, 4th Edition, with key documents that work as an integrated system to assist a health care professional carry out an efficient Bright Futures health supervision visit.Learn more

    • Bright Futures Guidelines

      At your fingertips, this manual provides the most respected recommendations for the top 12 areas of child development in 1 volume, along with the most up-to-date well-child supervision standards by visit. PDF versions are now available for reference.Learn more

    • Medical Screening Reference Tables

      The tables provide an easy-to-use reference table for each Bright Futures well-child visit. Each table compiles the relevant history, risk assessment questions, and action to take if the risk assessment shows a positive result.Learn more

    • Bright Futures Webinars

      Make sure to sign up for the latest Bright Futures webinars beginning in April 2017. Learn about the revised and updated Bright Futures Guidelines, 4th Edition from the editors themselves. Learn more

    • Bright Futures EQIPP Courses

      These courses are designed to help physicians interpret the Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children and Adolescents into everyday practice, with practical suggestions for implementation.Learn more

    • Implementing Bright Futures in Public Health

      Professionals can hear recorded audio stories of Bright Futures implementations and read highlights of how Bright Futures is being used by state agencies as the standard for well-child care and as essential content throughout many public health programs. Learn more

    • Performing Preventive Services

      Designed to accompany Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 3rd Edition, this manual provides effective ways to deliver the preventive services that are suggested in the Guidelines.Learn more
  • For Families

    • The Well-Child Visit: Why Go and What to Expect

      This NEW handout, The Well-Child Visit: Why Go and What to Expect, helps families prepare for their regular check-ups. This tip sheet is available in English and Spanish.Learn more

    • Bright Futures Activity Book—Available in English and Spanish

      To encourage parent-child interaction, the Bright Futures Activity Book provides a fun, informative, and interactive overview of the 10 themes from the Bright Futures Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 3rd Edition.Learn more

 Highlights and Announcements

  • April 8, 2021

    AMCHP's State Public Health Autism Resource Center (SPHARC) will host a series of four coffee talks every Wednesday in April. Each coffee talk will feature guest speakers and have dedicated time for questions & answers with autistic individuals. The coffee talk series will cover a variety of topics across the lifespan related to autism including:

    • Reaching Families Through Telemedicine
    • Disability, Gender, and Race
    • Employment & Transition
    • Celebrating Neurodiversity

    During Autism Acceptance Month, AMCHP will focus on sharing positive, respectful, and accurate information about autism and autistic people and hope that these activities will be valuable additions to Autism Acceptance Month. For the most up-to-date information on SPHARC Autism Acceptance Month activities, please visit: http://bit.ly/AMCHPacceptance.​


  • March 26, 2021

    The latest post on the #ScreenToInterveneForAYAs blog is up and ready to be viewed​. In this month's post, we feature reflections from Katherine Lewton, a high school student in Vermont, on what it's been like to be a young person during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope Katherine's writing will reconnect you with the reason why you continue to move your work forward to ensure that young people have the opportunity to live their best lives. ​

  • March 22, 2021

    Conversations about Care: Bonus Episode - Interim Guidance o​​n Obesity and COVID-19

    In this episode of Conversations About Care, Dr Sandy Hassink sits down with Victoria Rogers, MD, FAAP and Ihuoma Eneli, MD to discuss two new pieces of interim guidance from the American Academy of Pediatrics, focused on obesity prevention, management and ongoing treatment during the time of COVID-19. Dr. Rogers is the Director of Let's Go in Maine and Dr. Eneli is the Director for the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition with Nationwide's Children Hospital. In this conversation, they discuss the new guidance and the role of pediatricians during the pandemic.

     

    You can listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Stitcher, or SoundCloud. To access the resources mentioned during the podcast episode, visit the Institute for Healthy Childhood website, and look for Bonus Episode: Interim Guidance on Obesity and COVID-19. ​

  • March 17, 2021

    COVID-19 Town Hall Series: COVID-19 Pediatric Clinical Updates 

    The AAP is proud to continue offering a bi-weekly series of virtual town halls linking members with leading experts to discuss emerging issues related to caring for patients and families during the COVID-19 pandemic. The next Town Hall will be held Thursday, March 18 at 7 pm CT. Join leading experts as they address your questions related to a broad range of clinical topics including COVID-19 illness in children, MIS-C, therapeutics, “long COVID", the outlook for advancing vaccines in children, and more. Participants are encouraged to ask questions in advance and during the event. 

    Click here to register.  

    ​​​

  • March 12, 2021

    AAP Webinar: Addressing Adolescent Vaping and E-Cigarette Use​​

    The AAP Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence is hosting a webinar focused on addressing adolescent e-cigarette use in clinical, community, and school settings. The webinar “Assessing & Addressing Adolescent E-cigarette Use" will be held on Friday, April 23, 2021 12-1pm CT, with Maria Rahmandar, MD, FAAP, serving as faculty.  Dr. Rahmandar is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics (Adolescent Medicine) at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Medical Director of the Substance Use & Prevention Program at Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.   ​​

    Webinar Learning Objectives:

    By the end of this presentation, participants will be able to:

    • Identify and address e-cigarette use in clinical settings such as primary care, school-based health, and behavioral health
    • Identify strategies to help youth quit e-cigarette use in non-clinical settings: at home and in school
    Register Now! Please note: All attendees who pre-register will have access to the recording after the live event.​​
    Please contact Paula Martin at pmartin@aap.org if you have question or would like more information. Thank you!​

  • March 4, 2021

    Highlight Your Practice Success in Developmental Surveillance and Screening During COVID-19

    The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), would like to gain a better understanding of clinician experiences and successes with developmental surveillance, screening, and referral during the COVID-19 pandemic. We are looking for clinicians interested in participating in a 30-45 minute in-depth interview with AAP staff. Information gathered through these interviews will help inform technical assistance, education, and training efforts to support delivery of developmental surveillance, screening, and referral to children and their families during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Interested clinicians should complete this brief online interv​iew application by March 19. Up to 9 clinicians will be selected to participate in an interview. The clinicians that are selected for an interview will be mailed 50 copies of the children's board book Amazing Me – It's Busy Being 3!  Please contact Krysta Gerndt, kgerndt@aap.org, with any questions.​


  • March 3, 2021

    Hit Me with Your Best Shot: Immunizations in 2021

    Join ​​Pediatric Care Online (PCO) ​ for their free webinar on​​​​ Monday, March 8, at 12:00 pm EST when Henry Bernstein, DO, MHCM, FAAP discusses the Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule: United States, 2021. Objectives of the webinar include:

    • Highlight the current Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule: United States, 2021.
    • Understand the rationale for the latest updates to the 2021 universal immunization schedule.
    • Understand the process for approval of COVID19 vaccine in children.
    To view the webinar click here​.


  • February 8, 2021

    AAP, FDA Release Videos About Vaping 

    The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Food & Drug Administration have partnered to release three brief educational videos that feature advice from pediatricians about recognizing e-cigarettes, understanding health effects, and intervening with youth who are using these products. Find more information and the videos ​here.​​


  • February 8, 2021

    New Dietary Guidelines Address Infants, Support Healthy Dietary Patte​rns

    For the first time, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans include recommendations for children younger than 2 years and make it clear that a healthy diet for infants and toddlers is crucial in setting a healthy pathway for later diet. To view the AAP article, click here.


  • February 8, 2021

    ​Shared Decision-Making Worksheet for Families & Caregivers
    Family Voices has created a shared decis​ion-making worksheet based on the AAP interim guidance,​ Caring for Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs During the COVID-19 Pandemic. This worksheet assists families in how to initiate conversations and strengthen the partnership and collaboration with their child’s care team. 

  • January 20, 2021

    PEHSU Grand Rounds Webinar

    Health professionals are invited to the Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSU) National Webinar Series. The series provides an in-depth and interactive platform for learning and discussion about current and emerging topics in reproductive and pediatric environmental health presented by subject matter experts from within the PEHSU network. These events are free of charge and continuing education (CE) credit is available, including CME and CNE. The next webinar, Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): What Clinicians Need to Know, will discuss current and relevant information on the health effects of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The presentation will provide an overview of PFAS, describing their basic structure and chemical properties. It will also review the presence and persistence of PFAS both in the environment and in the human body, routes of exposure, and current risk reduction strategies.  

    January 27, 2021  1:00 PM ET

    Click here to register​


  • January 5, 2021

    Pediatrics On Call Podcast: Research Roundup with Drs. Lewis First and Alex Kemper

    In this episode, Lewis First, MD, MS, FAAP, editor-in-chief of Pediatrics, is back for another edition of “First Up." This time, he brings special guest, Alex Kemper, MD, MPH, MS, FAAP, deputy editor of Pediatrics, for a look at the “Best of 2020."  Hosts David Hill, MD, FAAP, and Joanna Parga-Belinkie, MD, FAAP, also talk to Jenny Radesky, MD, FAAP, about what “screen time" means during a pandemic. Go to www.aap.org/podcast.​​​


  • January 5, 2021

    AAP Disaster Management ECHO
    The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is launching a Disaster Management Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) program. The AAP Disaster Management ECHO will serve as a forum for pediatric primary providers, hospitalists, and public health/Emergency Medical Services personnel to increase participant knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy around disaster management strategies to aid children and families and to foster system level connectedness and improvements. 

    This ECHO program will meet twice per month starting in February 2021 and each session will last 1-hour. 
    To register for the Disaster Management ECHO, please click here. 

    More information about Project ECHO may be found at www.aap.org/projectecho. 


  • December 17, 2020

    New HRSA Challenge to Address Declining Vaccination Coverage and Well-Child Visits

    The Health Resources and Services Administration's (HRSA) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) launched the Promoting Pediatric Primary Prevention (P4) Challenge competition yesterday to respond to declining rates of childhood vaccination coverage and well-child visits due to COVID-19. CDC data show that these declines might leave young children and communities vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles. 


    The P4 Challenge will award $1 million in prizes for innovative approaches to increase access to and utilization of well-child visits and/or immunizations services within primary care settings. Partnerships with state and local organizations are encouraged, and submissions must include a primary care provider who delivers health services to children.

    MCHB expects to select up to 50 Phase 1 winners and up to 20 Phase 2 winners. Submissions will open on January 19th, 2021 and will close on March 15th, 2021. Visit their website for more information and to sign up for updates.​

  • December 17, 2020

    Winners Announced in 2 MCHB Grand Challenges 

    This week, HRSA announced the final winners of two of the four MCHB Grand Challenges, the suite of four prize competitions to develop innovative, technology-based solutions to improve the health of mothers and children across the U.S.

    The winner of the Care Coordination for Children with Special Health Care Needs Challenge is Caremap, developed by Boston Children's Hospital, National Family Voices and Duke Health. Caremap is a software solution that helps families of children with special health care needs coordinate the care their children receive from a variety of health professionals.

    The winner of the Addressing Opioid Use Disorder in Pregnant Women and New Moms Challenge is the Mobile-Accessible Plan of Safe Care (mPOSC) app, developed by Benten Technologies in collaboration with ChristianaCare and Delaware Division of Family Services. mPOSC is a mobile app with an integrated web-based system designed to keep families engaged in the collaborative care model.​

    For more information on accessing the Grand Challenges innovations, please email MCHBGrandChallenges@hrsa.gov​

 BRIGHT FUTURES/AAP PERIODICITY SCHEDULE (UPDATED MARCH 2021)
​​

Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care in Practice​

 About Bright Futures Video

 CORE PRACTICE TOOLS
​​
   

Access Core Tools for Each Well-Child Visit

  • Previsit Questionnaires
  • Visit Documentation Forms
  • Parent/Patient Education Handouts
Learn More

 TXT4BABY


 

 Screening Time Online Course


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