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

    • 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 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

    • 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

    • Bright Futures Tool and Resource Kit

      This kit provides an organized compilation of current forms and materials for seamless and effective inclusion of preventive health supervision and health screening for infants, children, and adolescents.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

    • 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

    • Family Pocket Guide—Available in English and Spanish

      Developed for families by families, in partnership with the AAP and other professionals, this convenient, attractive resource is based on the AAP’s Bright Futures: Guidelines for the Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents, 3rd Edition.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

  • July 12, 2018

    ​Tool to help pediatricians and parents partner to identify early signs of motor delay 
    The tool, titled Physical Developmental Delay: What to Look For, www.healthychildren.org/motordelay (also en Español) gives parents information about milestones such as rolling over, sitting without support or walking. The AAP clinical report, Motor Delays: Early Identification and Evaluation provides guidance on surveillance, screening, and appropriate testing and referral recommendations.

  • July 11, 2018

    Measure What Matters: Advancing Multidisciplinary Care Coordination in Primary and Subspecialty Care Settings
    Webinar Recording, Faculty Presentations, and Answers to Audience Questions Now Available
    Presented by the National Center for Medical Home Implementation (NCMHI) and the National Center for Care Coordination Technical Assistance, this 2-part recorded webinar series showcases real-world experiences from diverse health care providers with the common goal of capturing the value of care coordination using the Care Coordination Measurement Tool (CCMT)*. Webinar faculty describe their objectives for measuring care coordination, experiences in implementing the tool, and the implications of capturing the value of care coordination. Webinar recordings, faculty presentations, and answers to audience questions are now available on the NCMHI Web site.
    *An accompanying CCMT Adaptation and Implementation Guide is also available in the public domain.

  • July 10, 2018

    ​Early Childhood is Critical to Health Equity
    The first few years of life are crucial in establishing a child's path toward—or away from—health and well-being across the entire lifespan. This report, produced in partnership with the University of California, San Francisco, examines some of the barriers to health equity that begin early in life, and promising strategies for overcoming them.

  • July 10, 2018

    ​Call for Proposals – Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) Grant Program

    Applications Due: July 31, 2018, 2PM CST
    CATCH is a national initiative of the American Academy of Pediatrics that supports pediatricians to collaborate within their communities to advance the health of all children. CATCH is partnering with the National Dairy Council to support pediatricians to conduct community-based projects that improve health outcomes for child health and well-being. Up to $10,000 will be awarded to individual pediatricians and fellowship trainees to plan innovative community-based child health initiatives. 

  • July 9, 2018

    ​What You Never Realized You Were Teaching Your Child About Grit & Resilience: MIT Study Captures Techniques That Work f­­­or Babies as Young as 13 Months
    A new Massachusetts Institute of Technology study has determined techniques for building resilience and perseverance that work for babies as young as 13 months. This article includes a video teaching several of the methods.


  • June 19, 2018

    The AAP has been a leading voice in opposing separation of children and parents at the border. Below is an excerpt from the AAP Statement, as well as related articles and features:

    “Separating children from their parents contradicts everything we stand for as pediatricians – protecting and promoting children’s health. In fact, highly stressful experiences, like family separation, can cause irreparable harm, disrupting a child's brain architecture and affecting his or her short- and long-term health. This type of prolonged exposure to serious stress - known as toxic stress - can carry lifelong consequences for children." Full Press Statement

    Washington Post 
    AAP News
    New York Times 
    Univision 
    Buzzfeed
    NBC
    NPR
    CNN


  • June 18, 2018

    DEVELOPMENTAL SURVEILLANCE: WHAT, WHY AND HOW
    A new video from the American Academy of Pediatrics highlights important developmental surveillance steps that pediatricians should take during each health supervision visit. Pediatrician Dr. Shelly Flais discusses recommendations, tips, and resources available to pediatricians, clinicians, and families. Together, surveillance and screening are essential components to promote the optimal development of children.


  • June 18, 2018

    ​The Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Units (PEHSUs) program hosts a regularly scheduled webinar series. These webinars are educational presentations by environmental health experts that focus on current and emerging issues in pediatric and reproductive environmental health. These events are free of charge and continuing education (CE) credit is available, including CME and CNE. 

  • June 11, 2018

    ​The Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) State Profiles provide detailed information each state Medicaid program's EPSDT benefit and how this compares to AAP/Bright Futures guidelines and recommendations (supported by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration).  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) encourages state Medicaid agencies to use this nationally recognized Bright Futures/AAP Periodicity Schedule or consult with recognized medical organizations involved in child health care in developing their EPSDT periodicity schedules of pediatric preventive care. These state profiles were developed by the AAP to promote the use of Bright Futures as the professional standard for pediatric preventive care. NOTE: These state profiles use the former Bright Futures Guidelines, 3rd Edition and 2014 CMS quality data. Find the profiles and other state-by-state fact sheets, highlighting how ACA protections and Medicaid and CHIP support and improve children's health here.

  • June 11, 2018

    June 2018 Vital Signs Town Hall Teleconference - Rising Suicide Rates Across the US
    Join CDC subject matter experts and other public health professionals for a Town Hall Teleconference on this month's Vital Signs report. These town halls provide a forum for health, policy, and communication officials in state, tribal, local, and territorial agencies to broaden the conversation, build momentum, and ensure active implementation of evidence-based, effective programs within the public health areas covered by Vital Signs.
    Cost: Free

    Tuesday, June 12 2 PM ET
    Dial in (USA only): 800-857-0764
    Passcode: 795-4413

  • June 8, 2018

    The AAP continues to speak out against the Federal Administration's policy of separating children from their parents at the U.S. border. In early May, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) formally announced its "zero tolerance" policy to separate parents and children at the border as a way to deter families from migrating to the United States.

    The AAP was one of 540 national and state organizations, including numerous AAP chapters, who sent a letter to DHS calling for the agency to end the practice of family separation immediately. On that same day, 40 senators sent a letter to President Trump urging him to reverse his administration's decision to separate children from their parents at the border. The letter and press release cites AAP's statement against family separation. Today, AAP President Colleen Kraft, MD, MBA, FAAP, sent a message to all AAP members updating them on these efforts.

    Pediatricians continue to lend their voices to these efforts. On Sunday, Reshem Agarwal, MD, FAAP, and Marsha Griffin, MD, FAAP, were published in the Houston Chronicle. Julie Linton, MD, FAAP, and Alan Shapiro, MD, FAAP, were published in the Winston-Salem Journal also opposing the practice.

  • March 28, 2018

    AAP's Gun Safety and Injury Prevention Research Initiative, Videos, and Day of Action
    Several AAP voices are featured in this new video. Garnering 430,000 total views on social media and counting, it has become the Academy's most-watched video and most popular post on Twitter by far. An impressive 51 individual videos from Academy members can also be found on our YouTube channel, echoing perspectives as varied as the toll of gun violence on communities. 

    The Academy's new Gun Safety and Injury Prevention Research Initiative will play a critical role as part of this work. 

    In addition, there are several ways you can help keep up the momentum for needed action:

    • Lift up each other's voices. Consider sharing our video or a video of a colleague you know, either on social media, with your state and federal legislators or with your AAP chapter.  
    • Share your message in the media. Did you participate in a march or have a story to share? Write an op-ed for your local newspaper, framing gun violence as a public health threat to children, using this op-ed toolkit as a guide. Email kids1st@aap.org if you are published!
    • Join us April 10th for a day of action. On that day, nearly 400 pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists, pediatric surgical specialists, and pediatric trainees will be in Washington, DC, for the AAP Legislative Conference, meeting with their legislators on Capitol Hill about the need for comprehensive policy solutions to address gun violence. We'll have specific ways you can amplify their efforts online and to your federal legislators. Learn more and take action.​

  • March 27, 2018

    Behavioral Health Intervention with Adolescents
    Substance use and mental health are major concerns among youth. Pediatricians have an important role in preventing, identifying, and treating substance use and mental health concerns.

    The AAP, thanks in part to the Friends of Children Fund, is offering free access to simulations which provide participants with effective brief intervention techniques. Use of the simulations are FREE to AAP members and can be accessed at kognito.com/aap.

  • March 27, 2018

    ​AAP STAR Center Offers an Interactive Online Course on Early Childhood Screening​
    The AAP Screening Technical Assistance & Resource (STAR) Center was created to help practices support long-term child health and development through early childhood screening, referral, and follow-up for developmental concerns, maternal depression, and social determinants of health. “Screening Time: Tuning In to the Needs of Families” is a scenario-based training that will guide you in creating a screening workflow that fits your office. This course provides opportunities to practice talking to families about screening results through conversation simulations. This course has been approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ and MOC Part 2 credit. For more information and to access the course, go to screeningtime.org.

  • March 26, 2018

    ​New EQIPP Courses on Bright Futures Now Available!
    EQIPP: Bright Futures—Middle Childhood and Adolescence and
    Bright Futures—Infancy and Early Childhood are designed to help guide physicians on how to interpret and implement the Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision, 4th Edition into everyday practice.
    In these two courses, you will collect and analyze data, identify gaps in care, and create improvement plans to address those gaps. The supporting content in the barriers and suggested ideas for change grid provides practical steps to close gaps and improve the care of patients. These key activities contribute to high-quality, ongoing pediatric care that can improve your delivery of care to patients and families in your practice.
    AAP members receive EQIPP courses as a valuable member benefit and are eligible for ABP MOC Part 4 credit.  
    Click here to register and for more information.

 BRIGHT FUTURES/AAP PERIODICITY SCHEDULE (UPDATED FEBRUARY 2017)
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Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care in Practice​

 About Bright Futures Video

 CORE PRACTICE TOOLS
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Access Core Tools for Each Well-Child Visit

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

 TXT4BABY


 

 TXT4Tots

TXT4Tots​ is a library of short, evidence-based messages focused on nutrition and physical activity. The library is targeted to parents and caregivers of children ages 1-5 and is available in English and Spanish. Content for the messages was derived from the American Academy of Pediatrics Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents.​​​ 

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