Important Information about coronavirus (COVID-19)

  • Materials & Tools
    ​Bright Futures Guidelines provides a common framework for well-child care from birth to age 21.​
  • Clinical Practice
    With Bright Futures, health care professionals can accomplish 4 tasks in 18 minutes!
  • States & Communities
    Put Bright Futures into practice to promote health at the state and community levels.
  • Families
    Families use Bright Futures as a framework to partner with professionals about children’s health.
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.​​​

About Bright Futures

  • For Professionals

    • Bright Futures/AAP Periodicity Schedule

      Updated March 2021 Recommendations for preventive pediatric health care in practice.Download PDF

    • Pediatric Residency Resource Library

      This resource library features a diverse set of resources to help to strengthen clinical practice, stay current with the latest practice trends, build clinical and leadership skills, and connect with other areas around the AAP. Learn more

    • 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

      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, 4th Edition

      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

      Learn about the revised and updated Bright Futures Guidelines, 4th Edition from the editors themselves as well as other relevant topics. 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
  • For Families

    • Well-Child Visits: Parent and Patient Education

      The parent-focused education is available for each well-child visit. The child-focused education is available from the 7 Year through the 21 Year visit. All of the information is written to be easy to read and understand, in both English and Spanish.Learn more

    • 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, 2nd Edition

      To encourage parent-child interaction, the Bright Futures Activity Book provides a fun, informative, and interactive overview of the 12 themes from the Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 4th Edition.Learn more

 Highlights and Announcements

  • January 6, 2022

    AAP Social Media Campaign to Raise Awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Prevention

    The AAP in collaboration with the CDC has partnered with parent social media influencers to raise awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) prevention using the hashtags #preventACEs and #findyour3. Join the 2 upcoming Facebook Live influencer interviews with pediatricians for a discussion about ACEs and the important role of the community in supporting families:

    1. Tamara Floyd of Natural Hair Rules will interview Dr. Nia Heard-Garris on Friday, January 7, 2022 at 12 pm ET/11 am CT.  See her Facebook page for more info.
    2. Elayna Fernandez of The Positive Mom will interview Dr. Ilan Shapiro en Español on Tuesday, January 11, 2022 at 6 pm ET/5 pm CT.  See her Facebook page​ for more info.

    Visit the campaign webpage for information.​



  • January 6, 2022

    New Resource! Early Hearing Detection & Intervention: Promising Practice Spotlight

    ​The AAP Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program is excited to announce the Children's Minnesota Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) clinic as an Innovative and Promising Practice. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ENT clinic restructured its newborn hearing screening program to limit the number of appointments needed by families, in addition to improving timely diagnosis. After restructuring, the clinic has seen improved diagnosis time, reduced number of infants who are lost to follow-up, and overall improvement on EHDI 1-3-6 goals. This is the third in a series of practices sharing innovative tools and strategies to support families of children who are D/HH. Strategies for how pediatricians can support this work are highlighted. For more information on the AAP EHDI program, visit aap.org/ehdi​.

    Interested in replicating this Innovative and Promising Practice in your practice? Contact aapehdi@aap.org to learn more about next steps.​


  • January 6, 2022

    ​NEW ​RESOURCE! How to strengthen relationships with AA and Black families in the medical home setting! 

    In July 2021, the National Resource Center for Patient/Family-Centered Medical Home (NRC-PFCMH) hosted a virtual roundtable discussion focused on identifying recommendations for pediatricians to build stronger relationships with African American and Black families of children and youth with special health care needs (CYSHCN) within the medical home model of care. Participants of the roundtable included African American and Black families and caregivers of CYSHCN, members from the NRC-PFCMH Health Equity Subcommittee (Title V representatives, pediatricians, families of CYSHCN) and other key NRC-PFCMH stakeholders. Two resources were developed from the virtual roundtable to highlight the critical need to ensure African American and Black CYSHCN and their families receive family-centered and culturally effective care through the medical home model. 
    • ​The roundtable executive summary captures the practical strategies and recommendations the NRC-PFCMH can implement to support building stronger relationships between pediatricians and African American and Black families of CYSHCN served in their clinic or practice.
    • Graphic illustrators provide a visual representation​ of the discussion by capturing key themes and topics that reinforce the importance of equitable collaborations, care coordination, and culturally effective care for building stronger partnerships between pediatricians and African American and Black families of CYSHCN.

  • January 4, 2022

    NIMH Director’s Innovation Speaker Series: Addressing Social Determinants to Optimize Infant Brain Development

    In this talk, Cynthia Rogers, MD will provide an overview of adverse exposures and their influence on child development, discussing exposure to poverty, crime, and pre-and postnatal exposures to psychopathology and substance use. Dr. Rogers will also discuss ongoing longitudinal studies examining the role of social determinants on neonatal brain development, subsequent social-emotional development, and prevention and intervention strategies to optimize child development.​

    Register Now!

    ​

  • January 3, 2022

    New PediaLink Course: Bright Futures - Building Positive Parenting Skills Across Ages

    The Bright Futures National Center is excited to announce the launch of a new PediaLink course titled, Bright Futures - Building Positive Parenting Skills Across Ages​. The purpose of this course is to provide residents, nursing trainees, and other pediatric health care professionals the knowledge and skills to provide parental support and advice. Pediatric health care professionals play a vital role in reinforcing parenting skills by providing developmentally appropriate parenting advice and support as well as modeling parenting skills during the health supervision visit. This course includes scenarios to apply key concepts to address common behavioral concerns and ameliorate parental stress. The course is free to the general public, including non-AAP members. Learners who will only be required to create an AAP login (if they don't already) to obtain access to the course.

    Register Now!​


    ​

  • January 3, 2022

    National Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Project on Drowning Prevention - Deadline: January 10, 2022

    Drowning is a leading cause of death for children under age 14 nationally. The Texas Pediatric Society, the Texas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, in collaboration with Texas Children's Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine, and Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital is leading a national Maintenance of Certification (MOC) project in which participating pediatricians can gain practical tools for counseling their patients on water safety education with the goal of preventing drowning. This national Quality Improvement/MOC project is open to pediatricians practicing in primary care, urgent care, or emergency medicine settings. Applications of interest are currently being accepted for a MOC opportunity in drowning prevention for up to 50 pediatricians. The application deadline is January 10, 2022. For more details on the project and how to apply, visit the website. ​


    ​

 ‭(Hidden)‬ Subscribe to Bright Futures

​​

Subscribe to Bright Futures eNews to stay current on new information about Bright Futures by registering your e-mail address.

HRSA Logo