Access and Care Coordination

Bright Futures is a national initiative to address health promotion and disease prevention for infants, children, and adolescents. Bright Futures addresses health needs through the context of family and community.

Bright Futures provides resources to strengthen connections between the family, health care professionals, and the community. Bright Futures materials are used in medical and public health practice, as well as by families and local community organizations.

Bright Futures contains the Recommendations for Preventive Pediatric Health Care (“Periodicity Schedule") (1.3MB PDF), organized by age and developmental timeline of infants, children, and adolescents. This schedule and standard of well-child care are endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The Washington State Department of Health, Access Care and Coordination (formerly Maternal, Infant, Child and Adolescent Health) has promoted Bright Futures for use among many infant, child and adolescent health advocates and service providers, including child care health consultants, school nurses, pediatric nurse practitioners, and foster parent trainers. We have now added Chemical Dependency Pregnant and Parenting Women’s Programs (PPW), and group care for children to this list.

In 2006, the Bright Futures In Early Childhood Project published the Bright Futures Guidebook for Early Childhood Care and Education.  This book is designed for use by child care professionals and child care consultants. It shows ways of using Bright Futures principles and materials for health promotion in early learning settings.