The report release webinar of the new National Academies report “Vibrant and Healthy Kids: Aligning Science, Practice, and Policy to Advance Health Equity” was held on Thursday, July 25, 2019. The webinar included an overview of the report and discussion of the report’s findings, conclusions, recommendations, and key messages.

Early life conditions, including social supports and exposure to adversity, shape prenatal and early childhood development. These exposures unfold through education, housing, the physical and social environment, and other social determinants of health. Programs and policies designed to mitigate adverse conditions for U.S. children often fail to achieve the intended outcomes for the majority of recipients of these interventions. A new National Academies report applies neurobiological and socio-behavioral sciences to identify needed policy actions, program development, practice changes, systems reform, and research priorities to advance health equity.

The report builds on the science base described in the landmark 2000 NRC and IOM report From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development and the concepts in the 2017 NASEM report Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity, drawing upon new insights from 21st century science in the neurobiological and socio-behavioral fields to develop a roadmap for the prenatal to early childhood periods.

Authoring committee members who participated in the webinar included:

• Jennifer E. DeVoe (Chair), Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University
• Elizabeth Davis, University of Minnesota
  
• Nadine Burke Harris, Surgeon General, State of California
• Pat R. Levitt, Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President, and Director of the Saban Research Institute, Simms/Mann Chair in Developmental Neurogenetics, W.M. Keck Provost Professor
• Albert Wat, Senior Policy Director, Alliance for Early Success

Tweet using #vibranthealthykids to add to the conversation.

More information can be found on the report website.

Related Resources from the National Academies

• Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity
• The Promise of Adolescence: Realizing Opportunity for All Youth
• Communicating to Advance the Public’s Health
• Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda
• A Framework for Educating Health Professionals to Address the Social Determinants of Health
• Framing the Dialogue on Race and Ethnicity to Advance Health Equity: Proceedings of a Workshop
• Exploring Equity in Multisector Community Health Partnerships: Proceedings of a Workshop

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