Abstracts should highlight successful approaches to promoting optimal early brain and child development, the impact of early education and child care, parenting, and early screening. Three types of abstracts are encouraged:

1. Research abstracts presenting original research findings, and
2. Program abstracts describing ongoing or completed projects focused on early childhood issues.
3. Quality improvement projects

They may address early learning and literacy, social emotional development, parent education, early screening and referral for behavioral and developmental concerns, comprehensive systems building and collaboration, and promotion of positive child care and early education experiences. Specific approaches that highlight unique needs and approaches in diverse communities and populations are welcome. Submissions describing partnerships between pediatricians and public health agencies, educational institutions, community based organizations, and governmental entities; pediatrician participation in state early childhood advisory councils and quality rating systems; and programs which facilitate parent /patient engagement are especially encouraged. Abstracts also may focus on the negative impact of inadequate services and toxic stressors to developmental and behavioral outcomes.

Topics are sought for the following approaches:

Practice Approaches

• Best practices for early childhood screening (including, but not limited to, family risk assessments, developmental, social emotional, maternal /caregiver depression and early childhood trauma screens)
• Integration of programs and co-location of social emotional and early learning support in practice (e.g. mental health support or Reach Out and Read)
• Innovative care coordination in practice models
• Approaches that directly address and support executive function in practice
• Integration of early childhood topic in patient-centered medical home (PCMH), quality improvement (QI), and/or electronic health record (EHR) implementation
• Integration of early childhood topic in the education of residents, medical students, and/or other early childhood clinical providers

Community Approaches

• Successful models of partnering with community organizations and utilizing community resources to address and promote early child topics
• Successful models highlighting and supporting child care health consultants and mental health consultants
• Community asset mapping for early childhood issues
• Innovative approaches towards supporting home visiting and child care programs
• Opportunities for pediatricians to participate in early education and child care settings (including early Head Start, pre-school, family child care, home visiting, etc.)

Policy Approaches

• Best practices for influencing policies that promote early childhood development
• Advocating for state child care quality rating systems
• Participating in state Early Childhood Advisory Councils
• Developing state early screening systems
• Core funding and policies to influence and promote early brain and child development (EBCD)

This year, we will be accepting abstracts describing quality improvement projects. These abstracts may be eligible for free MOC Part 4 credit through the AAP’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Portfolio.

Is your abstract relevant to this year's Pediatrics for the 21st Century (Peds 21): The Medium Is the Message: How Electronic Media Are Transforming Our Patient's World? Click here to submit an abstract for the Peds 21 program.

If you've created a submitter account in a different program, you may use the same username and access key. If this is your first time submitting this year, please create a new account.