Rethinking Well-Child Care: Teaching Parents to Teach Their Children?

Pediatricians have been challenged to rethink the schedule, content, and structure of well-child care. There is growing recognition of the need to include a focus on promoting healthy social and emotional development in the context of the parent-child relationship to minimize exposure to toxic stress and reduce the later burden of adult disease. Multiple opportunities exist for expanding the range of services delivered in the pediatric medical home and for strengthening community connections to advance the concept of teaching parents to teach their children. Public health approaches at the population level may hold the greatest promise.