Pediatric Parenting Connections (PPC)
for families with children ages prenatal – 5 years
Pediatric Parenting Connections (PPC) places highly-qualified family educators into pediatric practices to provide evidence-based education and support for parents of young children. Subjects for education and support services include:
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Positive parenting and discipline
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Child development
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Breastfeeding and nutrition
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Sleep
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Behavior
PPC provides age-appropriate developmental screenings for children, depression screenings for parents, and referrals to appropriate community resources and providers for families.
PPC model + benefits
With PPC, current and future pediatricians provide warm hand-offs while delivering medical care beyond a clinic’s walls, addressing child health needs within the context of their family and community.
Imprints Cares has validated the outcomes of PPC over 13 years. At the core of PPC — and key to its success — is the international evidence-based Parents as Teachers (PAT) model.
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​Pediatric Parenting Connections...
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Streamlines referrals to connect more families to needed resources
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Is easily implemented in resident and non-resident medical practices
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Provides warm hand-offs to ensure families don’t get lost in the system
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Addresses social drivers of health outcomes
How it Works
Sample Case 1
Emmy is 2.5 years old. Her mother shares a concern with Emmy's pediatrician regarding a possible speech delay.
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The pediatrician provides a warm hand-off for an in-office assessment by a PAT-trained Imprints Cares Family Educator.
If the assessment is borderline, Emmy is referred to PAT for intensive home visits. She is reassessed in 2-3 months. If she is progressing, PAT visits continue. If not, PAT visits are supplemented with a referral to Early Intervention.
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If a speech delay is evident, Emmy is referred to Early Intervention.
Sample Case 2
Kayla is a young mom who is struggling to breastfeed her son, Kyle.
Kyle's pediatrician refers Kayla to a PPC-certified breastfeeding educator.
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After in-person support and follow-up, Kayla successfully breastfeeds Kyle.
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PPC impact
PPC impact is tracked with qualitative and quantitative metrics including:
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Indicators of normal child development.
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Health and indicators of ACES and toxic stress.
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Changes in parental behavior.
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Preventive health: breastfeeding, well-child checkups, health literacy, vaccinations, etc.
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Outputs: Referrals made/kept, parent satisfaction, parent participation in workshops/group meetings
The American Academy of Pediatrics emphasizes the importance of future pediatricians addressing child health needs within the context of their family and community. As part of the Wake Forest Pediatric Advocacy Program, all residents attend an Imprints Cares orientation and shadow a PAT family educator on a home visit. PPC improves early intervention, provides secondary prevention of child maltreatment, and increases referrals to development services.
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Last year PPC staff received 851 referrals and were able to serve 654 families
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135 children were referred to early intervention services
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276 families were referred to our PAT, FFN, and Book Babies home visiting programs
Imprints Cares is a PAT Blue Ribbon affiliate and received the Losos Prize in 2017 due to PPC. Through our full spectrum of evidence-based programming, Imprints Cares has continued to innovate and serve more families with even greater effectiveness.
"The patient surpassed his birth weight at just 7 days of age. He couldn't have done that without all your help! You're amazing, and I look forward to working with you more in the future!"
– Pediatric resident, in response to breastfeeding support from Imprints Cares
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What is the cost of the PAT program for parents?PAT is FREE for families. The cost of the program is covered by grants and other donations, so there is no charge for the families who participate.
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Can anyone receive home visits from PAT?Families must live in Forsyth County, have a child aged 0–5 years, and be experiencing one or more family stressors identified by the PAT National Office to qualify for the program. If you have a question about eligibility for your family or a family you know, please reach out to Julia Barnes at 336-713-9742. Para español, llame a Maria Stockton al 336-713-9743
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Who makes the home visits for PAT?The Imprints Cares' staff who make the home visits are called family educators. All family educators have college degrees (many have a Master’s degree), have been thoroughly vetted with extensive background checks, and have been trained in the evidence-based PAT model. Eight (8) family educators are bilingual, and four (4) are native Spanish speakers. Altogether, our family educators have a combined 65+ years of experience at Imprints Cares. Our family educators care greatly about the families they serve and want to help them and their children succeed.
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Can families be court-ordered to participate in the PAT program?The program is voluntary for families. They can start and stop anytime they choose, until their youngest child starts kindergarten or they move out of the county.
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Does PAT help parents with home schooling?No, we are a home visiting program for families with children ages 0–5 years. We help parents get their children ready for kindergarten by providing parenting support, developmental screenings, resource connections, and parent/child activities that equip parents to be their child’s first and best teacher.