Developmental Surveillance and Screening Resources for Pediatricians from the AAP

Via the AAP: The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) offers educational tools and resources to assist with developmental surveillance and screening. Resources include Bright Futures guidelines, brief videos, free webinars, free CME/MOC courses, free developmental surveillance training for practices, quality improvement toolkit for implementing developmental screening, screening tool finder, and a screening and testing coding fact sheet.

New from the AAP! Three mini-articles, based on listening sessions conducted with residency training directors, highlight Developmental Surveillance and Screening, Partnering with Families and Caregivers, and Facilitating and Prioritizing Referrals.

1. Overview of Developmental Surveillance and Screening | How to Identify a Developmental Concern, highlights the differences between developmental surveillance and screening and includes free resources to assist with conducting developmental surveillance.
2. Establishing Trusting Relationships with Families and Caregivers through Developmental Surveillance and Screening, demonstrates the importance of strengths-based developmental surveillance and screening. The article provides practical strategies and examples to help establish trusting relationships with families and caregivers.
3. Prioritizing and Facilitating Developmental Referrals, highlights the importance of making referrals early and often, in addition to important considerations for families and caregivers when a clinician initiates a referral. The article includes a link to the free, family-friendly referral guide to assist families or caregivers with the next steps following a developmental referral.

Family Friendly Referral Guide
The AAP offers a free fillable Family Friendly Referral Guide focused on supporting families and caregivers whose child has a developmental concern. Pediatric practices can customize this guide with information about local referral resources, and then use the guide to support families/caregivers in understanding what to do if a developmental concern has been identified. The guide also illustrates the importance of following through with developmental referrals. Download the guide in English or en Español.

Read the full article on AAP.org