The Potential Health Benefits of Child Day Care

[摘要] Child day-care programs are a part of an ecologic formulation of the contribution of family and the community to improved children's health. How does the promise of the possible become a reality?Head Start may provide some clues. As a large-scale national child-development program with integrated health, education, social services, and parent involvement components, Head Start assumes a responsibility for assuring access to needed health knowledge, health maintenance skills, and health services. It has standards for each component, a training and technical assistance capacity, and funding through bipartisan political support. It is not perfect; quality is uneven and it evolves as health standards are revised on the basis of new scientific information. Head Start places emphasis on community health advocacy.The needs of children and families will largely determine the combination of functions child care might assume. Until this nation recognizes that access to primary health care for all its citizens, especially its children, is non-negotiable, all child-care programs including Head Start are still at a significant disadvantage in realizing their potential.16 As the nation embraces the Education 2000 goal of all children being ready to learn when they enter school, child-care programs can play a significant role in helping children attain the health benefits that will foster that success in school.17 This cannot be accomplished by the programs alone, however. Health professionals must form partnerships with child-care providers to assist them in using their considerable expertise to promote the health and well-being of families who use their services.

[学科分类] 儿科学