The Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Periodicity Schedule has been updated as of March 2019. The following updates were made to the 2019 Recommendations: 

Note: The most up-to-date version of the Periodicity Schedule will always be located here: https://aap.org/periodicityschedule. Be sure that your website links to the current version of the Periodicity Schedule. 

If you would like to receive hard copies of the new Bright Futures/AAP Periodicity Schedule, email us at brightfutures@aap.org. 

The Bright Futures/AAP Coding for Pediatric Preventive Care booklet has been updated as of March 2019. This helpful resource provides a comprehensive listing of codes most commonly reported by pediatricians in providing preventive care services, and is aligned with the Bright Futures Guidelines, 4th Edition. 

We have also completely updated the Bright Futures Tip Sheets, which provide valuable assistance for implementing Bright Futures in various settings. And, be sure to check out the brand-new tip sheet for families! 

The States and Communities page is continuously updated to highlight all of the activities related to Bright Futures that are happening in each State. Read the updated implementation stories for North Dakota and Wisconsin! 

Visit our website at brightfutures.aap.org to check out these updates, and more.

Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight (IHCW)

Bright Futures works closely with the Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight (IHCW) at the AAP. 

The Mission of the IHCW is to empower physicians, families and children to: 

• Better prevent, assess, and treat obesity and its comorbidities; 

• Enhance partnerships with families to find and navigate individual pathways to healthy active living; and

• Catalyze stakeholders and communities to build and enhance capacity for healthy active living.

The IHCW has some fantastic resources available for health care professionals and parents alike. Recently IHCW collaborated with Bright Futures on a 4 part webinar learning series for community health centers (as part of the HRSA Childhood Obesity Initiative). 

During this recorded webinar, Judy Shaw, EdD, MPH, RN, FAAP (one of the Bright Futures Guidelines co-editors) reviewed updates to the Guidelines and new content, including new health promotion themes, visit screening recommendations, anticipatory guidance, and more. She discussed how to efficiently and effectively integrate these new recommendations into community health center’s work and answered questions about the Bright Futures National Center (BFNC), Bright Futures Guidelines, and related resources.

During this recorded webinar, Sandra Hassink, MD, FAAP (previous president of the AAP), an internationally recognized expert in child obesity prevention, discussed key anticipatory guidance and counseling techniques and desired actions (for the health care professional and parent). She also highlighted tools and resources to support implementation. HRSA offered an opportunity for community health center professionals to learn about childhood obesity prevention:

• Why are the first five years of life critically important from an early obesity prevention perspective?

• How can health care professionals support families in establishing and maintaining healthy, active living-related behaviors?

During this recorded webinar, Tory Rogers, MD, FAAP (a member of the AAP Obesity Leadership Workgroup) addressed these topics:

• Key components of a comprehensive obesity assessment (for patients ages 2-21) in the context of a well visit

• Ways to engage patients and families in treatment

• Obesity-specific family history, physical exam and review of systems

• Potential laboratory and diagnostic tests for those at risk of co-morbidities

• Key Bright Futures anticipatory guidance

The IHCW Early Feeding Portal is home to many great resources for health care professionals to use in their practices. These resources include: 

CPTI: Community Pediatrics Training Initiative 

The Community Pediatrics Training Initiative (CPTI) of the AAP aims to improve child health by preparing pediatricians to be effective leaders and advocates for children. CPTI supports pediatricians to become leaders in community health and advocacy by promoting authentic partnerships with communities, strengthening curricula, and utilizing networks of like-minded colleagues.

To address social determinants of health, pediatricians and other health care professionals must have the skills to work with communities outside of clinic walls. The CPTI Project Planning Tool is a step-by-step guide for residents, or anyone interested in partnering with their communities, to gain the skills necessary to plan, implement and evaluate a child health advocacy project.

Learn more about the tool and its implementation in training programs, including assessment.

Download the Project Planning Tool

For more information, contact Jeanine Donnelly at jdonnelly@aap.org.

State Spotlight: North Dakota

How North Dakota is Putting Bright Futures to Work

The North Dakota Department of Health and Department of Human Services worked together to integrate Bright Futures into their statewide Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) program, Health Tracks. Through this collaboration, providers throughout the state use the Bright Futures Guidelines and Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Periodicity Schedule to meet Health Tracks requirements for every child. By making this joint decision to use Bright Futures’ best practice model, the state is better able to provide more comprehensive health and developmental screenings to all children throughout the state.

North Dakota adapted the Bright Futures tools and resources to meet the unique needs of their state. With the implementation of Bright Futures, North Dakota was able to increase rate of well-child visits by up to 5% in some age categories. 

Visit the Bright Futures website for more information about how YOUR state is putting Bright Futures to work! 

Do you have a story to tell about how you've implemented Bright Future in your practice?

Please contact us so we can feature your implementation story on our Web site or in a future edition of the Bright Futures eNews.

Email: brightfutures@aap.org

The Perry Preschool Project (19620-1967) was originally developed as a randomized-controlled trial that was designed to study the effects of early childhood education for at-risk children. While it did not permanently increase the IQ of the students enrolled in the program, which was the original goal, the Preschool Project resulted in so many other benefits for participants. Students enrolled in the program experienced significant increases in employment, health, cognitive and socioemotional skills and reduced criminal activity in male participants, compared to those who were not enrolled in the program as children. 

New research published in May 2019 found that the positive outcomes have continued through midlife for participants, and have extended into the next generation - the children of the participants. Children of the Preschool Project participants were more likely to graduate high school without suspensions, and more likely to be employed full time and to have had some college experience, among other promising results.

These exciting new findings from the Perry Preschool Project suggest that high-quality early childhood programs have the potential to disrupt the poverty cycle, and even lift multiple generations out of poverty. 

To learn more about the latest research from the Perry Preschool Project, click here.