Challenges in Community Child Health Research
What are the challenges for Community child Health Research in the 21st century?
As children have become healthier and survive longer over the centuries, a "new" set of morbidities is threatening wellbeing and quality of life. These were first describe by Bob Haggerty, previous president of the Ambulatory Pediatric Association in the USA in the 1970s so they are not all that new anymore!
They include:-
- increased levels of disability and chronic life limiting conditions secondary to increased survival of premature infants and injury.
- increased levels of mental health disorders (it is estimated that 10-13% of the child population under 15have a significant mental health disorder such as ADHD, conduct disorder , anxiety or depression
- increasing levels of obesity 10% of 10 year olds and 15% of 15 year olds in the UK are clinically obese
- increasing levels of injury. , 60% of the A and E attendances by children are as a direct result of trauma
- worrying levels of health inequalities in our for most health and disease status measures. There is a four fold difference in infant mortality rates in our Borough.(the 8th least deprived in London!)
How is the department of community paediatrics contributing to the development of new knowledge to help inform national and international policy in this field?
Mitch Blair, Reader in Paediatrics and Child Public Health is based at Northwick Park Hospital Imperial College Campus. He has established the Mandala Centre for Child Public Health Research and Teaching which has very close links with the West London Priimary Care Research Group (WELREN). A list of current projects of the Centre is shown below.There are two main themes underlined:- [(c) = completed]
Child Public Health- development of measures of population health and child health surveillance
Child health at School Entry (CHASE project)
CHILD EU (c)
Ascertainment of disability using PEDS
Injury surveillance in NW London
Maternal and Child Health linkage
Health Service Delivery
Models of Acute care provision – international comparison ( Prof Louise Parker Newcastle) (c)
Models of preventive child health care – international comparison (Prof Neal Halfon , LA,USA)
Looked after children data flows
Evaluation of Paediatric Ambulatory Care
GP referral patterns and demand management models
Smoking cessation (BSc student Lauren Coxhead) (c)
Nursing contribution to child health (with Prof Allison While Kings)
What are the parenting beliefs and practices of ethnic minority communities within the first few weeks of life?
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Collaborations are ongoing with the Department of Primary Care, Kings College London, University of Newcastle, University of Surrey, UCLA USA and links have been established in Melbourne Australia with the Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Childrens Hospital.
A key philosophy is the importance of linking research evidence to clinical practice and health service policy in the UK and abroad.
