All well-baby visits are comprised of a review of several core elements: parental concerns, nutrition, development and behavior, physical examination, anticipatory guidance, conclusion and plan.
The Government of Ontario, following the advice of an expert panel, has recognized the importance of the 18-month well-baby visit by funding a longer, more in-depth visit.
Tools have been developed to help in the identification of children at risk, to enhance the timely referral to appropriate community resources necessary in early intervention and treatment.
The Nipissing District Developmental Screen is an easy-to-use tool that reviews a child’s skills in the following areas: vision, hearing, speech, language, communication, gross motor, fine motor, cognitive, social/emotional and self-help.
The 18-month Well-Baby Pathway, developed by the 18-month Screening Work group of the Ottawa Best Start Initiative, is an easy-to-use web-based tool that provides a link to community resources based on each of the following domains: speech/language, hearing/vision, nutritional/dental, fine/gross motor development, social/emotional/behavioral/developmental and parenting and family support.
Some EMR can link websites to their system, allowing for the linkage of parents to these resources and services during the 18-month visit.
Useful websites
- www.machealth.ca: Resources available here include the Ontario Rourke Baby Record, the Nipissing District Development Screen™ and the Early Child Development and Parenting Resource System Pathway, which lists community services.
- Ontario Rourke Baby Record: Available at www.machealth.ca, www.cps.ca, www.cfpc.ca and www.rourkebabyrecord.ca
- Nipissing District Developmental Screen™: www.ndds.ca, www.machealth.ca
- Ministry of Children and Youth Services: www.ontario.ca/child
- Ministry of Health and Long-term Care: www.ontario.ca/health
- Ministry of Health Promotion: www.ontario.ca/mhp
- Ontario Early Years Centres: www.ontario.ca/earlyyears
