CDHP & NYAS--Improving Pediatric Health: Biobehavioral Approaches to Childhood Disease Management

In May, The Children's Dental Health Project, in conjunction with the Global Children's Dental Health Task Force, Columbia University, and the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) , convened a symposium aimed at promoting the development, testing, and implementation of biobehavioral interventions to improve pediatric health. Providers working within multidisciplinary teams presented their programs, which are rooted in key concepts from the social behavior literature.

The providers noted that the centerpiece for these projects is not the clinician; it is community health workers and/or community advisory boards that, ideally, are brought on board from the outset of a project. These workers help investigators plan interventions that are meaningful to parents, that demonstrate caring, and engender trust.

Lack of a health information technology infrastructure for children's health is another impediment to preventive health programs. In addition, commercial companies must be convinced of the benefits and viability of such programs—at which point they will jump to fund them.

For additional information on this symposium, please visit the NYAS website here.