Child Health Services Research: Applications, Innovations, And Insights

Child Health Services Research offers a practical introduction to the foundations, primary methods, and applications of children's health services research. This valuable resource describes various approaches to children's health services research, shows how these approaches differ from methods used in relation to adult health, and demonstrates the value that can be added by outcomes research. In doing so, Child Health Services Research also examines various aspects of child health in the context of the household, hospital, health system, community, and policy arenas.

Elisa J. Sobo, Ph.D., is a research scientist with the Center for Child Health Outcomes and Trauma Services at Children's Hospital in San Diego, and is an associate clinical professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine at the University of California, San Diego's School of Medicine. Dr. Sobo has edited and authored numerous books and articles regarding the socio-cultural context of health, illness, and medicine.

Paul S. Kurtin, M.D., is a pediatric nephrologist. He is vice-president for clinical innovations of the Center for Child Health Outcomes at Children's Hospital in San Diego. Dr. Kurtin is founding medical director of the Child Health Accountability Initiative a collaborative of fifteen children's hospitals working to define, measure, and improve health outcomes for hospitalized children.

Foreword (James Perrin).

Preface (Elisa J. Sobo & Paul S. Kurtin).

Note to the Reader (Blair L. Sadler).

The Editors.

The Contributors.

Part I: Child Health Services: Setting an Accountability Agenda.

1) An Introduction to Applied Child Health Services Research: Connecting Knowledge and Action (Paul S. Kurtin).

2) Laying the Foundation: Identifying Major Issues in Applied Child Health Services Research (Pradeep Gidwani, Elisa J. Sobo, Michael Seid, and Paul S. Kurtin).

Part II: Child Health in Context: Home, Neighborhood, Community, Culture.

3) Prevention and healing in the Household: The Importance of Socio-Cultural Context (Elisa J. Sobo).

4) Documenting Child Health: The Community Indicators Movement (Diana Simmes, Lillian Lim, and Kim Dennis).

5) Partnering with the Community: Implementation, Evaluation, and Impact (Kim Dennis and Diana Simmes).

Part III: Child Health in Conventional Healthcare Settings: Improving Organizational Performance.

6) Health Related Quality of Life (Tara Knight, Tasha Burwinkle, and James Varni).

7) Conceptual Models of Quality of Care and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) for Vulnerable Children (Michael Seid, Elisa J. Sobo, Mirjana Zivkovic, Maryam Davodi-Far, and Melissa Nelson).

8) Standardized Approaches to Clinical Care: Pathways and Disease Management (Pat Richardson, Elisa J. Sobo, and Erin Stuckey).

Part IV: Child Health Outcomes: Broadening Applied Research's Reach.

9) Translating Research into Practice: Planning Research to Inform Policy and Program Development (Kim Dennis).

10) Looking to the Future: The Need for Applied Child Health Services Research (Paul S. Kurtin and Blair L. Sadler).

Glossary.

Name Index.

Subject Index.