ARTICLES RELATED TO:
Community Connection

Better health outcomes for all of us, at a lower cost and with fewer side effects. It’s no secret that each of us is different – we’re born with different genetic backgrounds, grow up in different environments, and lead different lifestyles. But until now, much of the medical care we receive has been delivered in a one-size-fits-all way. Precision medicine, a newer approach for disease treatment and prevention, takes into account all the things that make us different – and uses those factors to create more effective treatments with fewer side effects. In the same way that a doctor might take your child’s medical history (think allergies, blood type, past surgeries or illnesses) into consideration before recommending a course of treatment, precision medicine can guide health care professionals in the same way. But precision medicine is more than a fancy technique. Instead, it’s a movement for understanding, diagnosing, managing and […]

Dr. Tamar Goldberg, a second-year pediatric resident at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children, reflects on volunteering with Hands Up for Haiti. In July 2017, Dr. Goldberg will start her subspecialty training in pediatric neurology and neurodevelopmental disorders at Boston Children’s Hospital. Children in orange and plaid school uniforms with hair neatly parted in matching bows shout “blanc, blanc,” and wave at our rickety van as we pass. Palm trees grow at the roadside along with banana trees and rows of cactus bushes displaying that afternoon’s clean laundry. Locals push wheelbarrows full of coconuts or steer their donkeys carrying lumber. Goats and chickens mill around in vast green fields leading up to lush mountains. In February 2017, I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti with a team of pediatric residents from Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children to provide medical care for children in partnership with the organization Hands Up […]

This year marked the fourth time that patients and families gathered to share stories, common concerns, and inspiration at our annual Patient and Parent Mentoring Event, hosted by the Nemours Spine and Scoliosis Center. More than 100 people gathered at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children on a gorgeous spring day. As in years past, this event was open to families with adolescents who have idiopathic scoliosis, which is the most common form of the disease. More than 3% of the population has scoliosis, a condition that causes the spine to curve from side to side. For some, no treatment is necessary, just periodic monitoring of the curve by a healthcare provider. For others, treatment is required, which can include bracing to halt or slow down the progression of the curve, or surgery to correct the deformity. At the mentoring event this year, Dr. Suken Shah started things off by […]

With all of the news and debates about health care these days, you may have heard the term “community health improvement.” You may hear even more buzz about it during Community Health Improvement Week, June 5-11th. Community health improvement essentially means identifying and addressing communities’ health needs in order to improve the health of the community as a whole — not just the health of individuals. So why does that matter to you or your child? Because “community health” involves so many aspects of our lives. These are the kinds of things to consider when it comes to community health improvement: Socioeconomic factors Is affordable transportation available for families to get to and from appointments? Do they have money for copays and medications? Can they afford to the make lifestyle changes — low-salt diet, more fruits and vegetables — that the doctor recommended? What is the state minimum wage? Health […]

While many parents are familiar with developmental screenings for hearing or vision, they may not be aware of the importance of screening for issues like reading readiness. Reading readiness screening tools—like the Nemours BrightStart! Preschool Reading Screener for children ages 3-5—can provide a snapshot of a child’s progress in essential pre-reading skills. They can also show how a child’s progress compares to developmental milestones for those skills. Early screening gives parents, health and early childhood professionals the chance to offer additional supports for children who may not be on track for developmental milestones. Providing these supports as early as possible makes it much more likely that children will gain the skills they need to be successful readers. Nemours knows that literacy and health are connected, so we developed ReadingBrightStart.org to help parents build their children’s early literacy skills. It’s loaded with tips, milestones, developmentally appropriate activities, articles and recommended books by age, […]

Rare diseases are medical conditions that affect a low proportion of the general population. Although the incidence of rare diseases is fairly uncommon, there are over 7,000 types! Here at Nemours, our biomedical researchers are actively engaged in the scientific discovery of causes, treatments, and cures for many rare diseases. And clinicians and health care providers at all of our Nemours sites provide medical management for children with these conditions, most of which are inherited (genetically linked). Rare Disease Day Always the last day of February, Rare Disease Day was established in 2008 by EURODIS (the voice of rare disease patients in Europe) as a worldwide day of recognition. Since then, thousands of events have taken place, reaching hundreds of thousands of people and increasing awareness around the globe. Increased awareness of rare diseases helps to: improve understanding of these conditions offer support to patients and their families inform policy- […]