Compassionate Health Care for Children and Families: Promoting Optimal Child Health, Social, Emotional and Cognitive Development Within a Medical Home

Sunday, April 13. 10:00-11:30am. Lopez Room.

Description 

Learn how children, families and nurturing parent-child relationships can be promoted through health care services that focus on the emotional, social and academic development of the child: 1) Explore the medical home model, which enables a child to receive ongoing care at home from a primary care provider and team who individualize care for each child, and coordinate the family’s connection with needed community services to support the patient’s early childhood learning and social-emotional development; 2) Examine the challenges inherent in the traditional healthcare system, and the prospect for better, compassionate care through a model more in line with medical home ideals; 3) Be inspired by medical providers who talk with parents about reading, and give families a new book at each well-child check up - motivating parents to read and engage with their child in developmentally appropriate ways; and 4) Learn how personalized service through a statewide toll free telephone line is part of a compassionate health system that helps assure families’ basic needs are met.

Presenter Bios 

Jill Sells, MD, Docs for Tots Washington State, Reach Out and Read Washington State

Dr. Jill Sells is a pediatrician and Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She engages doctors in early childhood as the Director of Docs for Tots Washington State and the Medical Director of Reach Out and Read Washington State. As a consultant, she focuses on early childhood systems and health and school readiness efforts, emphasizing support for “the whole child,” including physical health as well as social, emotional, and cognitive development. By making connections between research, policy, and practice, Dr. Sells partners with others to support families so that all children can reach their full potential. Dr. Sells serves on the board of WithinReach, Washington’s statewide information and referral system for family health, and on the advisory group for CHILD Profile, Washington's parent information mailing system. She is a District Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) Facilitator for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP); and recently received an AAP Special Achievement award for her work in early learning. She received her BA from Stanford University in Human Biology with a concentration in child development and disability, and her MD from the University of Washington School of Medicine. She completed her pediatric residency at Seattle’s Children’s Hospital and the University of Washington. Her clinical experience includes time in rural Idaho and on the Navajo reservation in Shiprock, New Mexico, in addition to working with a variety of cultures in the Seattle area.  

Ben Danielson, MD, Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic

A graduate of Harvard University, Dr. Danielson completed his medical degree at the University of Washington School of Medicine and his pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center. He is currently the Medical Director of the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, a community clinic of Children’s Hospital that provides medical, dental, and mental health services for a culturally diverse, predominantly low-income patient population. Dr. Danielson has received several awards in recognition of his work as an advocate for under-served populations and his dedication to increasing diversity within the medical profession. Dr. Danielson currently serves on the UW School of Medicine Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMCA) Diversity Board, participates in the African American Mentor Network, and has served as a mentor for under-represented college students interested in medicine through OMCA’s Summer Medical Education Program. Most recently, Dr. Danielson received the 2008 Distinguished Service Award for Community Service and Volunteerism, an award given annually by UW Medical Center in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.   

Mary Ann Woodruff, MD, Pediatrics Northwest, PS

A Northwest native, Dr. Mary Ann Woodruff has been caring for children in the South Puget Sound for nearly twenty years as a pediatrician. She completed undergraduate work at Seattle University and her medical degree at the University of Washington. Her pediatric residency was accomplished in the Bay Area (Mt. Zion Hospital, Stanford and the University of California, San Francisco). Her focus has been on childhood development and enhancing family life, so it was with joy that she discovered the Reach Out and Read program and brought it to her pediatric practice, Pediatrics Northwest, PS, 7 years ago. She and her colleagues will distribute 10,000 books this year at well-child visits. She has been a Reach Out and Read trainer for the past four years, guiding other medical practices on the west coast as they embrace the Reach Out and Read Model. She is confident that Reach Out and Read can and should become an integral part of well-child care and is now serving on the Advisory Board for Reach Out and Read Washington State. Dr. Woodruff serves on the Board of Directors of the Food Connection Food Bank, the Pierce County Library Foundation and is the board president for Friends of Pediatrics Northwest. 

Patty Hayes, RN, MN, WithinReach

Patty Hayes is the Executive Director of WithinReach, joining the organization in August 2007. Before coming to WithinReach, Ms. Hayes was the Assistant Secretary for the Community and Family Health Division in the Washington State Department of Health, with responsibility for a wide variety of public health programs including Maternal – Child Health, Immunization, and Women, Infant and Children (WIC) nutrition program. She was in leadership in the Department of Health for more than a dozen years, previously serving as Director of Policy, Legislative, and Constituent Relations, and as executive director in Health Systems Quality Assurance. Hayes has been a government relations consultant, the Associate Director of Federal Government Affairs for the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists in Washington, D.C., a past Executive Director for the Washington State Nurses Association, an Associate Professor at St. Martins College, Olympia, and a lecturer for Gonzaga University.