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Show y V. . - :t:!.,. ' U H . :j ... " m V 'U Aw? ..... , ; INFANTS CAN RECEIVE help from various health department programs which work on in- fant's and children's problems from different angles. County Health Dept. offers infant help Working in conjunction with the local -Jd-Find project in finding and piding services, are a wide variety 'programs offered by the Uintah lfciin District Health Department. Each program works on infant's and lildren's problems from different tg!es, and also provides f ollowup care (current or diagnosed cases. INFANT DEVELOPMENT lf the Infant Development Program is signed to help families assist their k jayed child to reach his maximum jtential. This is accomplished through iils to the home by a public health ' use with special education and ex-irience ex-irience with developmental delayed lildren. The nurse assesses the tvelopmental level and health status , the child, then works with the family 11 design a program of activities to help P; m develop further. This program is irked into the daily routine. The nurse keeps in close contact with U .pliysician.and is.: able to, monitor. rlion and medication. She assists 111 special adaptive equipment, fog problems', diet and discipline. I milies who need special services, th as genetic counseling and gnostic testing will be referred to propriate resources.' Referrals for iluation can be accepted from lyone and there is no charge for the vice. HANDICAPPED CHILDREN Handicapped Children's Services CS) are available to any child from rth lo age twenty-one living in Utah to is suspected of having a chronic ease, defect, or condition which may hinder normal growth and development. develop-ment. All children referred to HCS qualify for a diagnostic evaluation (finding out the cause of the problem) without charge to the family. This evaluation' may include the child being seen by specialists in childhood diseases, bone defects, heart, eye, nose and throat defects, speech and hearing, plastic surgery, phychological or social work. , HCS has intinerant clinics which come to the Uintah Basin each quarter. A team of pediatricians, psychologists, nurses, social workers, educational experts and nutritionists see the child and recommend what they feel is best for the child. This service provides the handicapped child with resources and agencies unheard of in the rural areas of the state. HCS works closely with private physicians and schools, and sends reports of their findings to whoever can help the child the most. WELL CHILD CLINICS Because of the high cost of health care, many mothers only take their children to the doctor when they are ill. This gives the physician no baseline to know and understand the child when well. Well child clinics for children 0-5 years of age have been offered to Uintah County by the public health nurses in the Uintah Basin Helath District for the past year on a once-a-month basis. In well-child clinics the emphasis shifts from their routine physical exam to include parent counseling and parent education on a preventative level. Nurse practitioners have been paid by the health district to do the physicals while the public health nurses provide information on various subjects: how a child grown, what a child's behaviour means, etc. This service is mainly aimed at children who have not seen a physician for a year because of low income or other priorities and do not have the benefit of a medical card. WIC Another service offered for children is the WIC (Women, infant, children) program through the local health district. The WIC program is a supplemental food program for infants, children under five, pregnant and breastfeeding women, with a nutritional need determined by a local public health nurse and nutritionist. An important part of the program is the nutrition education classes taught by the registered dietician, Lynne Dawson. EPSDT Early and Periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment (EPSDT) program is a federal and state funded comprehensive health care program designed to meet the health needs of Title XIX medicaid eligible children, from birth to twenth-one years of age. The program is based on a preventative health philosophy of discovering and treating Jiealth 'problems before they become disabling and far more costly to treat. The program is designed to supplement sup-plement existing health care services, and is meant to be only a fraction of the total regular, continuing health care which every child requires. For more information about these programs or referrals, please call the Health Department at 789-1264 in Vernal, 722-2269 in Roosevelt or Helpline 789-4888. |