After months of policy debate, the state's first retail-style health clinic opened in a CVS store in Medway. It brings a new style of health care to Massachusetts, with pharmacy patient rooms and quick treatment for common illnesses and vaccinations. MinuteClinic, a CVS Caremark Corp. subsidiary, plans to open 27 more clinics statewide before year's end and about 100 overall. It targets people looking for more convenient care, touting its short waiting times, low costs and quality care for minor ailments.

Thousands of new moms face the emotional and physical challenges of breadwinning and breastfeeding. For some women, returning to work marks the end of the honeymoon period with a newborn, when a mom’s new role collides with demands at work — all of which may leave her feeling overwhelmed, says Justyna Lagman, a Naperville, Ill., certified lactation consultant. Having support from family, employer and other moms can mean the difference between nursing your child and throwing in the pump.

The new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes in a child is a life-altering experience that creates many new stresses for the family. High on the list is how to deal with school. Arranging proper care in the school environment is a critical step. - JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation)

In celebration of the P&K 10th birthday, I consulted some of the top pediatricians in the country to get their take on the top changes in child health over the last decade and get a sense of where we may be heading. Some of these changes may surprise you, so hold on to your seat! 

Perhaps due to increased awareness about domestic violence, the reported numbers regarding victims of violence are rising, says Mardi Chadwick, Esq., Director of Community Services at Casa Myrna Vazquez, a Boston-area domestic violence agency. It used to be that one out of every four people reported to have been affected by domestic violence, Chadwick says; now, that number is one out of three. In fact, those numbers concerned Governor Deval Patrick enough to issue a public health advisory this June, urging for a statewide strategy to prevent domestic violence homicide.

School-age children say being sick makes them feel bored, annoyed, gross and even sad, according to the recent MedImmune Parent-Child Influenza Survey conducted by Harris Interactive. The National Center for Health Statistics estimates 38 million school days are missed each year by kids sick with the flu -- that's a lot of unhappy children.

Parents can help kids avoid missing school because of the flu by making sure they get a flu vaccination every year as soon as vaccine is available.

 

Quincy Pediatrics is among 50  practices in Massachusetts about to begin using a new vaccine for children ages six weeks through  four years. Pentacel protects against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio and Hib, or influenza type B. Hib can have life-threatening complications, including meningitis and epiglottitis, a blockage of the airway caused by bacterial infection.

Having “the talk” with our kids is never easy. Just getting through saying the various anatomic names can be daunting for even the most savvy of parents. It used to be that we would talk about the basics, reproduction, and add sexuality, birth control and life issues like babies later on as our kids got older. This news of 17 pregnant Gloucester teens rocks that philosophy to the core! We need a new approach – one that takes into account the reality of what today’s teens are truly doing sexually.

While no one looks forward to getting shots, making sure children are up-to-date on vaccinations is a vital part of the back-to-school ritual. School is a special situation for health care because of the group setting created by the close proximity of teachers and students. For this reason, all states, including Massachusetts, have stat- mandated immunization laws in place for school entry.

Summer is the perfect time for healthy lifestyle habits. The days are longer and brighter, allowing families to spend more active time together outdoors. And at no time during the year is the variety of fruits and vegetables more abundant. Whether you’re looking for ways to hone the healthy habits you’ve already established, or find ways to create new ones, read on…

Nine-year-old Emily Braunstein of Needham wants to be a chef. But she's not the type of girl that follows a set recipe. She airs on the side of experimental. Some of her past creations have included hot dog omelets and French Toast that she now says "had way too much sugar." Today she's in the mood to create something on the healthier side.

Do your children ever travel alone? “Of course not,” you say. What about school trips in middle school or high school? What about overnight camp and day trips or overnights they may take? Any time your kids do something without you, they are travelling alone. Once kids are old enough to have these opportunities, they are old enough to not only understand important safety rules about travelling without you, but understand how to care for themselves and their health a bit. In fact, if they can’t accomplish either of those tasks, perhaps they are not quite ready to be on their own.

Some families will find more comfort in stressful hospital stays thanks to the Neely Foundation, founded by a former Boston Bruins hockey star and his siblings. Last month, ten years after opening a bed and breakfast-style group of family apartments at Tufts New England Medical Center in Boston, they unveiled a specially-designed Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Tufts’ Floating Hospital for Children.

Dust mites and other allergen-producing organisms may be uninvited guests in your child’s bedroom. If your child has allergies or asthma, there are things you can do to make his bedroom as clean and allergen-free as possible.

More deer. More ticks. More disease. Physicians treating suspected cases of Lyme disease are also on the lookout for other tick-borne diseases on the rise as the local deer population increases. Babesiosis and anaplasmosis are also in the mix this time of year on the South Shore.

Sometimes it's numbness; other times it's a crying jag. Sometimes it's uncontrollable rage; other times it's re-reading the same page without absorbing it. Depression has many symptoms that slowly erode the lives of its prey, destroying everything in its wake - marriages, families, careers. Help is out there, for sure. But many men won't ask for it.

Safety proofing. One of those necessary evils of parenting we love and hate all at once. We love the fact that we are protecting out infants and very young children, yet if only it were easier to accomplish at times...and if our tots had a bit less Houdini in them. Still, safety-proofing measures do minimize injury and provide us with peace of mind during a very chaotic time in our kids' lives.  

Nearly 4,900 families have filed claims with the U.S. Court of Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and other neurological problems in their children although the Institute of Medicine said in 2004 there was no credible evidence to show that vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal led to autism in children.

If you ask a preschool, elementary or high school teacher what is most important to a child’s chances for school success, they will instantly reply, “social-emotional skills!” But what exactly does that mean to a slightly bewildered parent? Social-emotional skills include how a child feels about himself or herself, how she or he relates to others, and his or her capability to stick with a problem until it is resolved. They form the foundation or the structure of a child’s mental health.

One of the most difficult issues for new parents is deciding if a very young infant (under 2 months of age) is sick. Some people go by “look”; others seem to have built-in radar that prompts a call to the pediatrician. Pediatricians, too, develop a sixth sense with this age group. They have to because this group, above all others, deserves special attention when illness lurks.