Skills
beget skills. Cognitive and social skills needed to successfully manage
personal and child health and healthcare are those needed for success in life
across cultures. They are skills that empower people to be what they want to be, to make
choices and transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. These life skills develop most easily
in early childhood given a stable supportive family environment. Disparity in
brain development in children growing in disadvantaged vs enriched environments
becomes apparent in the first year.
Quality of family life matters more than the number of parents, their
income or education. But poverty and accumulated disadvantage prevent parents
from doing their best to sustain the stimulating home environments that support
optimal development, especially when they themselves lack skills, resources and
role models. Early intervention --- early childhood education, parenting
training, family support and home visitation programs--- can produce positive
and lasting effects on children in disadvantaged families. Nobel Laureate and economics
professor James Heckman, makes the business case for shifting public policy to
support programs that offer parents information, choices and assistance. Promoting health literacy means
providing direct supplemental assistance that specifically and intentionally
enables parents to develop and hone the range of life skills used to
participate in healthcare and manage personal and family health at home. Must read: Heckman, James J. (2013) Giving Kids a Fair Chance (A Strategy That Works) MIT Press,
Cambridge, Mass. ISBN
978-0-262-01913-2 In addition to Heckman’s monograph,
the book includes illuminating commentary by 10 experts from multiple
disciplines. |
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CategoriesHealth LiteracyMaternal Child Health Test |
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