On January 28th, Pediatrics Northwest and WCAAP hosted the Pediatrics Supporting Parents Summit. During our time together parent partners, pediatricians, funders, family advocates, state and local leaders, educators, community-based organizations and researchers shared valuable feedback on how we can move from inspiration to concrete action.
Pediatrics Supporting Parents (PSP) is an initiative aimed at transforming pediatric care to better support parents and promote children’s social and emotional well-being during critical early years. Pediatrics Supporting Parents (PSP) seeks to transform pediatric well-child visits to strengthen early relational health and create lasting change that helps children succeed through partnering with families and communities.
WCAAP and Pediatrics Northwest came together as Pierce County First Year Families, one of 5 national proof point communities in the 4 year PSP grant 2022-2025. Workflows were redesigned with family input while learning collaboratives connected clinics across the state to reduce isolation and share practical solutions. By pairing relational, upstream care with policy, advocacy and
scalable infrastructure, Pierce County First Year Families shows that family-centered, team-based pediatric care is not only aspirational but also achievable, sustainable, and ready to be replicated.
Key events and themes from the summit included:
- Keynote address by Dorothy Richardson, PhD Developmental Psychologist, UMass Chan School of Medicine speaking on: “Early Relational Health: Advancing Developmental and Relational Framework for Supporting Families with Young Children”
- Review of Pierce First Year Families work during PSP’s 4 year grant period:
- Co-creation with families
- Creating Effective Teams of Care: Behavioral Health Integration and CommunityHealth Workers at the pediatric medical home
- Supporting Families from the start: supporting Early Relational Health
- Relational Health Learning Collaborative with 12 WA practices
- State and National Advocacy efforts
Allyship: Discussion about working with additional partners including school
nurses, faith communities, WIC representatives, early learning educators, and
military personnel and families
Commitments: Many attendees committed to sharing the learnings with their
teams, reviewing referral data to improve coordination, and actively collaborate
with allies to amplify family voices.
Suggestions: Clear call to prioritize payment models that value wellness over visit
volume, ensure policy changes connected back to family feedback, and work to
bridge the gap between military pediatricians and the broader community.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to the team at Pediatrics Northwest (mwoodruff@pedsnw.net; rlettieri@pedsnw.net) or the WA Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (lgosselin@wcaap.org) for any questions or ideas. As discussed in the final session on January 28th, the goal is to turn inspiration into concrete action.
We look forward to sharing next steps as we continue to build this coalition together.