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Holiday Season is Upon Us!
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With the first significant snow of the season behind us (and another storm coming this weekend) winter is officially here! With Christmas and school vacation only one week away, this is a very festive time. It is also our busiest time of the year. We appreciate your patience.
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| Phone System Upgrade!
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We have known for awhile now that our phone system is not keeping up with demand and have been working hard to find a product that would fit our needs. We are happy to announce that we are installing a new, state-of-the-art phone system this week (December 14 in our Westwood office and December 19 in our Mansfield office).
With our new system we will have an increased number of phone lines to help reach our goal of making it easier for you to get connected. You will no longer experience busy signals, and you will be notified how long the wait will be to speak to a nurse or to make an appointment. All callers will, however, need to learn our new menu options so we ask that you follow the instructions carefully. The new technology will also give us valuable data to help us manage our busiest phone times by staffing appropriately so that you will experience less wait times on the phone.
We hope (and expect) you will have a positive experience with the new system. We appreciate your patience while our staff becomes more familiar with the new technology. As always, please let us know what you think so that we can continue to serve you better.
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| Don't Forget Your Flu Shot!
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We have had many patients test positive for Influenza (the "flu") this season. While the Department of Public Health states that, so far Massachusetts only has "sporadic" flu activity, it is just a matter of time before it arrives in full force. If your child has asthma and has not received a flu shot, please call us as soon as possible!
We are fortunate to have adequate supply of flu shots this year. Flu shots are recommended for all children in the following groups:
All children 6 months - 5 years of age
All children with asthma (including those with "mild" asthma)
All children with chronic disease, immune deficiency, or metabolic/genetic disorders
All siblings of children under 6 months of age, or otherwise at increased risk from flu
In addition to the above recommended groups, there will be sufficient supply to provide flu shots for all healthy children who want them.
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| "Book Crush" - Book Recommendations for Your Young Reader
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Help your kids choose a book they'll love! Book Crush is a fantastic guide to children's literature. It includes book suggestions for youngest readers, middle-grade readers and teens, grouped by topic, genre or style. Author Nancy Pearl includes categories such as "You've Got a Friend", "Before and After Harry (Potter, of course)", "Girls Rule", "Dragooned by Dragons" and "Kids to the Rescue". This is a terrific book for any family's collection.
Book Crush: For Kids and Teens - Recommended Reading for Every Mood, Moment and Interest by Nancy Pearl (Sasquatch Books, 2007)
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| 0-1 Year Olds: Protect Your Baby By Vaccinating Yourself
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At a Pediatric Infectious Disease conference recently attended by Dr. Strauss, one of the talks focused on the ability to protect our children from illness by making sure the adults in the house are immunized. Babies under one year of age (especially those under 6 months of age) are especially susceptible to illness. All parents of young babies should receive the flu vaccine and the adult pertussis vaccine.
In heathy children, Influenza (the "flu") is generally an acute, self-limiting, uncomplicated disease. In the very young, however, this is not necessarily true. While death is certainly not common, babies under one year of age are nearly twice as likely to die from complications of the flu then older children are. If you have a young baby, all household members (and childcare providers, grandparents, babysitters, etc. . . ) should help prevent the flu by obtaining a flu shot. Flu shots are readily available at community clinics and by contacting your doctor.
Pertussis ("Whooping Cough") is an extremely-contagious bacterial illness that is most commonly spread in the winter. In older children and adults, while not life-threatening, pertussis is marked by a prolonged cough (sometimes lasting 3-6 months!), that is unresponsive to most available therapies. There are reports of people with pertussis coughing so hard that they have broken a rib! In infants, however, pertussis infection may be life-threatening with respiratory failure a possibility. While pertussis is included in the primary set of shots (it is the "P" in the DTaP given at 2, 4, and 6 months of age), immunity is incomplete until the third (or fourth) shot. Within the past few years, an adolescent and adult version of the DTaP has become available ("Adacel"). If you have not received this shot (or if you are not sure), talk with your doctor.
Help us keep your baby (and yourself) healthy!
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| 1-5 Year Olds: Cabin Fever!
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The winter is coming! If you are a stay-at-home parent and have two or more children under five years old, you are a potential set-up for cabin fever. We would like to encourage you to "find your village," people who will help you get through the long, cold winter. For some families, if you have few relatives around, you may need to pay for your village.
Several possible options include:
Mother's Helpers - find yourself a responsible 10-13 year old (or teenager) to play with your children once or twice a week when you are at home. Often the time period between 4:00-5:30pm is very stressful, and a mother's helper can effectively distract the children and perhaps allow you to rest (or prepare for dinner). They tend to be much cheaper than babysitters, and, if they start with you when they are young, they will often stay with you as they mature!
Mother's Groups - join a local group. To find a group, check the following places:
1) The Parent Connection at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: free groups for moms and babies. They also offer specialty groups ("Working Moms", "Gay and Lesbian Parents"). (617) 667-2229
2) The Center for Early Relationship Support of Jewish Family and Children's Service: multiple support groups for new mothers. (781) 647-5327
3) Westwood Youth and Family Services: at Islington Community Center. (781) 320-1006
5) The Parent Paper: has local groups and programs.
Follow the 2-Hour Rule - find a sitter (or utilize your spouse) and make sure you have 2 hours outside of the house once a week for self-care. Also, try to have 2 hours outside of the house once a week with your oldest child to do something fun (this does not include running an errand). This should be one-on-one quality time.
Remember, you are taking care of your child by taking good care of yourself!
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| 5-10 Year Olds: The Disorganized Elementary School Student
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Wouldn't it be wonderful if schools would develop a curriculum dealing with "ORGANIZATION." In such a class, we would acknowledge that some kids must learn to be organized, as opposed to the assumption that this is an innate phenomenon. There are two types of organization: internal and external. Internal organization occurs inside the brain and deals with prioritizing work and remembering your schedule. External organization involves the child's physical space (ie: keeping a desk neat).
While no such class currently exists, the book "THE ORGANIZED STUDENT" by Donna Goldberg is an excellent stopgap. Some private schools have organization coaches. If your child is disorganized, consider calling to see if any are available to work with your child privately.
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| 9-13 Year Olds: Stress and Anxiety - The "Worrier"
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The years between 9 and 13 are a period of significant psychic stress and anxiety for many children. It is an age of changing bodies, hormones, and a significantly altered social world with new rules of engagement. This is also a time when there may be family losses for the child to deal with such as divorce or the death of a grandparent. As a result, many children this age are "worriers."
If your child's worries are starting to interfere with his or her life (as manifested by trouble sleeping, missing school, or having trouble making/keeping friends), we may be able to help. By talking with you and your child, as well as utilizing a validated screening test, we can assess the extent of your child's anxiety.
If you would like to learn more about childhood anxiety, read Helping Your Anxious Child (edited by Ronald Rapee).
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13-18 Year Olds: Adolescents and Issues of Consent and Confidentiality
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As parents and care-givers, one of our jobs is to teach adolescents how to be their own healthcare advocate. We at Westwood-Mansfield Pediatrics have long encouraged adolescents to take charge of their health, providing them the opportunity to meet with the physician without a parent present. This is both the standard of care in adolescent medicine, and also, in many instances, mandated by Massachusetts law.
During the one-on-one part of adolescent visits, we inform your child that our discussion will be kept confidential. However, we strongly encourage your teenager to share all information about their lives with you, the parents. We ask questions that provide us with an opportunity to prevent (or reduce) risky behavior, which is the most common cause of accidents, injury, and death in adolescents. We welcome your input as parents and use your questionnaire and comments directly to guide our visit. We hope you will use the opportunity before, during, or after the visit to talk with your adolescent about the many social pressures that most teenagers face.
In next month's newsletter, Dr. Martha Perry, who completed a three year fellowship in Adolescent Medicine after her pediatric residency reviews the consent laws and how they pertain to the adolescent patient.
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| 18-20 Year Olds: Home From College? Need shots?
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The next few weeks are a time for many college-aged children to come home and cathc-up with both their sleep and their old friends Why not also catch-up on their shots?
The following immunizations are recommended for college students.
Flu - Flu shots are recommended for all asthmatics. If your college student suffers from asthma, please take advantage of the holiday break to make sure that he/she gets immunized!
Menactra - This meningitis vaccine is required for students at most colleges.
Gardasil (HPV) - The HPV vaccine is a 3-part vaccine which has been demonstrated to prevent HPV (the virus that causes cervical cancer) in females. The second dose should be given 2 months after the first, and the third dose should be given 6 months after the first. If your daughter received the first injection but has not received the second or third, we can administer it this holiday break.
Hepatitis A Vaccine - The so-called "spring break" vaccine prevents Hepatitis A, a virus that strikes your liver. Hepatitis A is common in the third world (although its incidence is increasing in the United States) and is often contracted by college students while vacationing. It is a two-part vaccine, with the doses given at least 6 months apart.
Adacel - This is an adolescent and adult version of the DTaP that is routinely given to babies and preschool-aged children. It protects against diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis (whooping cough).
If your child needs any of these immunizations (or if you aren't sure), please call our office.
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| Reaching Beyond Ourselves (and Helping Our Waistlines!)
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This year, food pantries around the country are experiencing a 30% increase in demand along with a 40% decrease in donations. We would like to ask that this year, instead of giving the baked goods to the office (that we enjoy but our waistlines don't), please consider donating to a local food pantry. We have a food basket in the hall outside the our office door in Westwood and in the waiting room in Mansfield for your contributions. Please make a donation of canned goods that we will send to the local charities.
Thank you and have a very happy holiday! | |
