Asthma is the most common chronic medical condition in children, and childhood asthma hospitalizations continue to make up a large portion of preventable hospital readmissions and health care costs. Poorly managed asthma not only impacts a child’s health, but can negatively affect ...
Behavioral health issues are common in hospitalized children. One PolicyLab study found that although up to half of children hospitalized for a physical health condition have behavioral health needs or psychological distress during their stay, they may not regularly receive treatme...
Children with asthma rely on regular medication use to stay healthy, and are particularly vulnerable to flare-ups and hospitalizations when their treatment is interrupted. One common reason for disrupted access to medication for children with asthma and others with chronic conditio...
Like most young people, transgender and gender-expansive youth often have a pediatric primary care provider (PCP) who is their first or only point of contact in the health care system. Unfortunately, many of these providers feel they do not have the training or experience needed to...
Transgender and gender-expansive youth face unique challenges that impact their physical and mental health. Harassment, discrimination, violence and rejection are just some challenges that lead more than 40 percent of transgender individuals to attempt suicide in their lifetime—10...
With strong evidence that maternal depression negatively impacts children’s health and development, this issue is a pressing concern for children’s health advocates and providers. In this brief, we highlight recent national efforts to improve access to care for maternal depression,...
As recently as 2014, the U.S. military reported rates of child abuse and neglect that were 45 percent lower than those of the general population. However, recent PolicyLab research suggests that the U.S. Army may be unaware of a large proportion of child maltreatment cases among it...
More than 95 percent of children in the U.S. currently have health insurance. We can attribute much of the success in achieving this nearly universal rate of children's coverage to the introduction of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997 and the 1965 passage of Me...
For the 15 percent of adolescents who have intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD), transitioning to adulthood can present unique challenges to accessing necessary health care. PolicyLab researchers have identified specific barriers facing this population and recommended acti...
Rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea have been rising steadily in recent years, with adolescents and young adults experiencing the highest rates. A relatively simple treatment can cure most patients of chlamydia and gonorrhea, but treating an infected patient is not always enough to ke...
