VCU partners with Virginia Department of Health to create online training

Virginia Commonwealth University, in partnership with several state organizations, has created an online course that teaches health care providers the Bright Futures Guidelines, the commonwealth’s standard for all children’s health care.

Bright Futures was adopted in 2001 and encourages health professionals to build partnerships with families so the child’s development can be assessed over time and to educate and support the family and child in developing healthy, lifelong habits.

The online course, “Promoting Child and Adolescent Health: Bright Futures and EPSDT (Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment),” provides an overview of Bright Futures, explains the EPSDT program and demonstrates how to implement the guidelines.

“The Bright Futures Guidelines focus on an individual child’s needs, which the provider can discuss with the family or caregiver and then identify community resources and solutions that fit with the family’s values and goals,” said Linda Meloy, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics in the VCU School of Medicine.

Nationally, Virginia has been a leader in the statewide adoption and promotion of the Bright Futures Guidelines, which address new health risks that threaten children today. These include chronic conditions such as asthma, obesity and complications of early sexual activity. Challenges to children’s health status include the links between poverty and limited access to health care; prenatal risks and low birth-weight babies; nutrition and school performance; and substandard housing and lead poisoning.

“The guidelines address the emerging disease prevention and health promotion needs of young children,” said State Health Commissioner Robert B. Stroube, M.D., M.P.H. “They outline best practices for child and adolescent care and help providers improve the way they care for their young patients.”

The Web course is divided into six segments and can be completed in about seven hours. Co-creators were the Virginia Department of Health, the Virginia Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services.

For more information about Bright Futures, visit www.vdh.virginia.gov. To access the course, go to at www.vcu-cme.org/bf.