Perspectives

Caregiver Health Promotion in Pediatrics: A Novel Opportunity to Enhance Adult and Child Health

Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management. 2018 November;25(9):406-409

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Finally, while only a relative minority of physicians we surveyed suggested that a lack of reimbursement for their activities served as a general barrier to caregiver health promotion, ensuring that pediatric providers are adequately compensated for their efforts on behalf of parents and guardians would undoubtedly help support their activities. Integrated EMRs could be one way to support this, particularly for services that are traditionally billed for (eg, depression screening or tobacco cessation counseling). Novel ways to reimburse pediatric providers for their contribution to adult health indicators could also be considered; for example, to the extent caregiver health promotion activities contribute to adult quality indicators (eg, postpartum depression screening rates and completion of postpartum visits) that are associated with financial rewards, health systems could consider sharing these “bonuses” among pediatric providers.

From Family Pediatrics to Family-Oriented Care

While caregiver health promotion has long been considered part of the practice of “family pediatrics,” it should more accurately be seen as an integral component of the delivery of family-oriented primary care, as it represents a novel opportunity to advance the health of not only children, but also their caregivers. Following existing preventive care guidelines, pediatricians currently engage in a variety of activities to promote child and caregiver health, but require support to more consistently and effectively address issues such as caregiver tobacco use or maternal depression. The barriers faced by pediatricians could be most effectively addressed with the engagement of adult health care providers and health systems; this includes the development of an integrated EMR that would support screening activities and referral to connect caregivers with necessary follow-up resources. Further characterizing the barriers faced in pediatric settings, and exploring how health systems could provide the necessary support to address these barriers, is crucial to realizing the potential of caregiver health promotion to have multi-generational impacts on well-being.

Corresponding author: Maya Venkataramani, MD, MPH, 2024 E. Monument St., Suite 2-502, Baltimore, MD 21287; mvenkat2@jhmi.edu.

Financial disclosures: None.