Necessity of Development Assessment †Free Sample Assignment

Question: Why is developmental assessment essential in the provision of primary care for infants, children, and adolescents, and what are the essential components of this assessment on the basis of a child's age? Which tools will you use to assess specific components of development (such as speech, motor skills, social skills, etc.)? Which tools do you think are the most accurate in assessing the developmental components and why? Which components would you consider in assessing the basic biological functioning and well-being of your pediatric patients? Why are these components important in providing primary health-care services to children? Answer: Necessity of developmental assessment in the provision of primary care for infants, children, and adolescents, and the essential components of this assessment on the basis of a child's age Developmental assessment is the method of identifying a childs performance in comparison to children of similar age. Developmental delays are common in childhood, and they are the markers for health conditions like intellectual abilities, autism, vision impairment and hearing impairment, cerebral palsy, speech disorders. All children do not grow up in a similar manner and major differences lie between children in term of developmental milestones. The developmental changes occurring in the child is the indicator of the mental and physical health of a child. The primary care of children, infants and adolescents must, therefore, be according to the developmental assessment of the child. Depending on the developmental stage of the child, the care plan must be implemented for delivering primary care (David Weinstein, 2013). The essential components of the developmental assessment n the basis of the age of the child are as follows- Physical developmental assessment- Growth and health Status, Sensory development Motor development assessment- Fine motor development and Gross motor development Cognitive development assessment Language and communication development assessment Social and emotional development assessment including mental health (Bornstein Bradley, 2014) Tools used to assess specific components of development and the tools that are the most accurate in assessing the developmental components Several screening tools are designed that help in the identification of developmental delays. Screening tools can be used for specific areas like, cognitive development, language, and gross motor skills. The following are some of the tools that are used for assessment of development: Tool Focus area AIMS - Alberta Infant Motor Scale Motor development ASQ - Ages and Stages Questionnaire Communication development Gross motor development Motor Fine Motor Communication check-list Communication and learning Early Referral Identification Kit Language and speech NDDS - Nipissing District Developmental Screen Cognitive skills Parkyn Tool Healthy Babies Healthy Children (HBHC) postpartum screening tool Health development The questionnaire tools are the best tools for assessment of the development of the child. These questionnaires examine the risk fctors in an effective manner and determine whether more assessment is required for the area of concern for the child. These can be mental health, psychological development and cognitive assessment (Charlesworth, 2013). Components considered in assessing the basic biological functioning and well-being of the pediatric patients and why are these components important in providing primary health-care services to children The main components of assessment of well-being and biological functioning of a paediatric patient are height, weight, head circumference, blood pressure, physical examination comprising of examination of the head, oral condition, abdomen, extremities, skin, neurological development, blood tests for anemia, hearing abilities, vision, mental health assessment (Bhutta Black, 2013). These points can be considered as the important aspects in providing primary health care services as the physical, and mental health of a child is the summation of all these factors. The overall health of a child is based on these factors, and a child can be considered to be in sound biological and mental health if the child is meeting all the criteria mentioned. Therefore, when a child is given health care, the primary care services is dependent on these components. According to the results of the assessment of the components, the care plan for the child can be considered. References Bhutta, Z. A., Black, R. E. (2013). Global maternal, newborn, and child healthso near and yet so far.New England Journal of Medicine,369(23), 2226-2235. Bornstein, M. H., Bradley, R. H. (Eds.). (2014).Socioeconomic status, parenting, and child development. Routledge. Charlesworth, R. (2013).Understanding child development. Cengage Learning. David, T. G., Weinstein, C. S. (Eds.). (2013).Spaces for children: The built environment and child development. Springer Science Business Media.