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Assessment and Intervention in Infant Mental Health
Assessment and Intervention Strategies Collaboration across agencies and disciplines is required to provide a proper continuum of care for children and families. Assessment and intervention should also be available across settings to include school systems, health agencies, child care agencies, and other settings that involve family support services (Zeanah, 2005). Assessment of risk factors for poor development should begin before birth. Prenatal risk factors such as history of multiple miscarriages or other poor birth outcomes, mental illness, substance abuse, and partner violence are all psychosocial factors that may contribute to infant mental health and development issues. Early screening and intervention can offset risks and create better birth outcomes. Simple screening tools to identify and evaluate risks such as depression and substance abuse are available and can be used in doctor’s offices, hospitals and social service agencies working with the pregnant woman. These settings can also be used as an opportunity to educate families about proper development and how to identify early warning signs for developmental delays and social-emotional development issues. The initial screening is a short process (about 10-20 minutes) that is used to target issues of concern as opposed to an in depth developmental, social emotional, or medical assessment. Screening with the family provides the opportunity to identify areas that primary caregivers can work on with the infant or child through specific and purposeful activities designed to stimulate development. This is an ideal time to educate parents on developmental milestones, appropriate parenting expectations, and other child health and well-being topics, as well as provide support. Screening can be conducted by paraprofessionals, professionals, and parents who are properly instructed. Screening should be an ongoing process completed at regular intervals and occur in settings where the infant or child is familiar and comfortable. A general guideline for screening is three times in the first year of life, two screenings in the second year of life and annual screening after age two (Ounce of Prevention Fund).
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Contributor's Note
This is part of a series on Infant Mental Health.
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