Transcript of Learn the signs. Act early. For health professionals.
Narrator: One in five children starting school in Australia is developmentally vulnerable. When developmental delay is addressed early it can make all the difference to the child's health, well-being and educational outcomes. Your general practice team can help turn the tide. Every time a child visits your practice for a health check or immunization is an opportunity to ask how the family is functioning and check the child development. There are many ways you can promote the optimal development of each child and detect any delays early. These resources can assist you to help families promote their child's development. My personal health record known as the Blue Book contains Learn the Signs Act Early milestone checklists. Learn the Signs Act Early posters and print materials. Another tool for parents is the Love Talk Sing Read Play app that tracks their child's development and has ideas to help develop their child skills.
Dr Liz Marles, General Practitioner: Really we want to make the most of every opportunity that that child presents to check on their development and to check whether the parents have any concerns.
Narrator: You can use the Learn the Signs Act Early developmental milestone checklists in the Blue Book to help start the conversation with parents.
Dr Liz Marles: Parents love talking about their child's progress. They really want to find out whether we think that the child is developing at an appropriate rate. It's really important that every child is having the sorts of health checks and the opportunistic assessments that we do in general practice, just to make sure that they're on track. Because you know early intervention is what it's all about really. As a GP, we're always observing our patients and some kids will go straight to the toy box and they'll start picking them out and they'll start building things with the blocks. Some children will be not doing that. That might be very clingly. That may just be because they're unwell but sometimes, particularly if they're not speaking and we try and engage them in conversation and the parent tells us that what they're doing is actually what they always do, we may be a little bit more concerned.
Narrator: Parental concern is a powerful predictor of whether a child has health and developmental problems.
Col (Grandparent): Initially we looked in the Bluebook and things like that where the milestones are listed there, and we're seeing that some of his milestones were delayed so we kept pushing forward and advocating for him.
Narrator: When delays are detected children need referral for further screening and assessment or directly to specialists or allied health professionals. You can refer them to a child and family health nurse for an Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) assessment. This is a validated child development screening tool to be completed by parents. Once completed the results will be discussed with the parent and referral options provided if needed. Alternatively you may refer the child and family directly to a paediatrician, allied health worker or other service for a further developmental assessment.
Col (Grandparent): Then eventually our pediatrician referred us the speech pathology, so he's been doing that. Then we noticed his balance and everything was still off, so that's when occupational therapy come in. So we've been attending that as well. Whereas without that communication, we had problems where it was just getting aggressive and frustrated and we were getting frustrated because we felt so helpless that we didn't know what he was trying to tell us. He's three now. Pretty soon he'd be five, starting school. So by doing it now, we're able to introduce it early and hopefully you know it gives him a fighting chance to catch up. You know, be on par with other kids his age. See a child's future, they've got to be given them best chance in life.
Dr Liz Marles: Well we know how important those early years are is our in terms of setting up pretty much everything that comes afterwards, and particularly in terms of that child's education. But really getting that early intervention can really change outcomes. So the earlier we can detect a significant problem, the better.
Narrator: Acting early to identify any delays can make the world of difference. Your general practice plays a valuable role in helping parents to Learn the signs. Act early.
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For more information: Learn the Signs. Act Early. My Personal Health Record Book and Love, talk, sing, read, play (translations available).
