Curriculum standards
Entrustable Professional Activities
LG7: Assessment and management - child population health
Child population health
Assessment and management of patients through a child population health lens
This activity requires the ability to:
- identify opportunities for advocacy, health promotion, disease prevention, child protection, and safeguarding in the community to improve children’s health, development and well-being
- identify and make recommendations on the determinants of child population health, including reducing barriers to accessing healthcare, and addressing inequities affecting various socioeconomic, gender, indigenous, disabled, and other minoritised groups
- identify and advocate as a leader for priority populations and/or minoritised groups for improved child health and developmental outcomes
- contribute to the development of population-level and local strategies to improve the health and development of all children and young people in an area, including targeted and universal interventions, programs, and policies
- apply knowledge of population health to provide paediatric input for the planning of services for children in the community, including working with other agencies
- contribute to the development of standards, protocols, guidelines, and policies with a population health perspective
- critically appraise published literature including epidemiological, descriptive/qualitative, and interventional research; then synthesise and communicate population health information for varied audiences
Professional practice framework domain
Medical expertise
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- identify protective factors and resilience in at-risk groups, and use them to generate management plans and recommendations
- formulate an awareness and consideration of conditions that are more prevalent in specific populations
- advocate, and reduce barriers, for children and young people whose life circumstances increase their vulnerability
- integrate an understanding of attachment and biological embedding and their impact on child health and wellbeing into clinical practice
- improve support and access to community-based and educational services that increase health,development and wellbeing of individuals and the population
- consider complex care needs of patients with multiple comorbidities, aiming to improve individual patient and population health outcomes
- advocate for strategies, services, and policies that promote optimal child and adolescent development and health across the life course, with particular reference to early childhood
- contribute to the development of standards, protocols, measures and guidelines with a population health perspective, such as through clinical leadership and interagency forums
- generate a child population health question to drive health promotion or population health improvement
- create, implement, and evaluate strategies for the promotion of child health, wellbeing, and optimal developmental trajectories at a population level
- demonstrate an understanding of complex interplay of intergenerational trauma and social determinants of health in impacting health outcomes
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- identify children from priority populations
- identify barriers to health for children, young people, their families, and the community.
- identify community-based services and supports that improve health, development, and wellbeing for children, young people, and their families
- describe the life course model, the social determinants of health, and their impacts
- describe the concepts of attachment, biological embedding, and the developmental trajectory
- apply knowledge of how a policy or health strategy will impact on the health and wellbeing of populations
- define a population health question or policy that affects the health and wellbeing of children, young people, and their families.
- analyse data and evidence
Communication
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- practise trauma-informed, and culturally safe communication
- recognise and respond to the communication needs of disabled and neurodiverse individuals and population groups
- communicate with community-based service providers, primary care, schools, and other organisations to coordinate care
- apply science communication skills to present health information and research effectively to colleagues, the public, policymakers, or media
- use the principles of science communication to share information clearly, accurately, respectfully, responsibly, and empathetically
- effectively communicate the results and relevance of scientific studies with attention to epidemiological concepts such as absolute and relative risk, bias, and generalisability
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- communicate with and refer to community-based service providers, primary care, schools, and other organisations
- present health information in a variety of formats to suit the communication needs of individuals and population groups
- ensure clinical documentation is clearly written and formatted
- ensure academic documentation is appropriately structured and referenced
Quality and safety
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- contribute to the development and implementation of activities that improve clinical quality and safety to reduce inequities in health and developmental outcomes
- contribute to the evaluation of existing health services and programs and identify opportunities for further improvement
- contribute to planning and implementation of health services and programs for a minoritised group
- support engagement with consumers and community representatives in quality improvement activities
- contribute to the development of operational policies that support high quality health care for children and young people from minoritised groups
- participate in activities that increase the effectiveness of health care organisations and health systems
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- identify opportunities to improve clinical quality and safety to reduce inequities in health and developmental outcomes
- identify relevant consumer groups and community representatives for quality improvement activities
- identify operational policies that support high quality health care for children and young people from minoritised groups
- ensure information privacy and security
- critically appraise the quality of information
Teaching and learning
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- contribute to the teaching and supervision of health professional colleagues, trainees and students regarding strategies to improve child population health
- develop educational resources about child population health areas for health professional colleagues, other trainees and students, and other audiences
- regularly participate in continuing professional development activities that increase knowledge of child population health current issues, policies and programs
- demonstrate effective supervision skills and teaching methods which are adapted to the context of the training
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- provide constructive feedback to junior colleagues to contribute to improvements in individuals’ skills
- participate in the teaching and supervision of junior colleagues and medical students
- participate in continuing professional development activities that increase knowledge of child population health policies and programs
Research
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- contribute to child health-related research, where applicable
- conduct systematic searches of published and ‘grey’ literature
- critically appraise the strength of evidence in published scientific papers, referring to levels of evidence
- critically appraise evidence to address a research question
- integrate critical appraisal conclusions into clinical care and population health work
- disseminate the findings of a study appropriate to the audience
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- apply the principles of evidencebased practice in clinical and other settings
- effective retrieval of evidence from scientific databases
- conduct non-systematic or narrative reviews of evidence
- describe the principles of critical appraisal
- refer to evidence-based guidelines and protocols
- demonstrate an understanding of the limitations of evidence and the challenges of applying research in daily practice
Cultural safety
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- demonstrate commitment to improving the health of Māori and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
- collaborate with families and communities to optimise child health and developmental outcomes
- actively support management of patients within cultural and family context
- advocate for culturally safe care
- apply knowledge of the values, beliefs, practices, cultural models of health (e.g., Te Whare Tapa Wha for Māori), biological factors, and unique health needs of specific population groups
- utilise interpreters and other communication assistance means during clinical encounters where appropriate
- use qualified language interpreters or cultural interpreters to help meet the communication needs of children and families
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- show respect for knowledge and expertise of communities
- demonstrate a commitment to improving cultural safety
- demonstrate an emerging understanding of cultural safety
- proactively identify risks in the communication of public health information to different groups
Ethics and professional behaviour
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- actively support and promote diversity and equity
- facilitate and advocate for the safety and rights of the child, including adherence to child protection legislation and relevant policies
- support and empower families and carers to provide optimal care for their child
- perform work that considers ethical implications, and adheres to legal requirements in managing and sharing health information
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- demonstrates an awareness of the rights of the child
- adhere to child protection legislation and policies
- identify ethical principles relevant to the sharing of health information
Judgement and decision making
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- integrates child population health perspectives into decision-making, with attention to reducing health inequities
- balance risks and benefits in communicating public health information
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- identifies child population health perspectives in clinical decision-making
- seek support to manage patients in challenging contexts
- identify risks and benefits in communicating public health information
Leadership, management, and teamwork
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- demonstrate skills for multidisciplinary and/or cross-agency collaboration to improve child population health outcomes
- advocate for quality, safe, and effective care for improved child health and development outcomes
- contribute to the development and implementation of strategies for child health, development and wellbeing at a regional and local population level
- work collaboratively with other staff
- lead teams, maintaining engagement and a focus on outcomes
- demonstrate an understanding of how to effectively chair multidisciplinary meetings
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- demonstrate skills for collaboration with team members, including the wider multidisciplinary team
- encourage an environment of openness and respect
- demonstrate emerging skills for participating in multidisciplinary meetings, under supervision
Health policy, systems, and advocacy
Ready to perform without supervision
Expected behaviours of a trainee who can routinely perform this activity without needing supervision
The trainee will:
- contribute to activities that address the determinants of health and mitigate barriers to accessing care
- contribute to activities that improve equity of access to community-based universal health and developmental screening programmes
- demonstrate application of the rights of children, disabled peoples, and indigenous peoples, and identify legislative support for these concepts
- demonstrate awareness of current policies and strategies that impact the health, development and wellbeing of children and their families
- contribute to, or participate in, advocacy and policy activities to improve child population health outcomes
- demonstrate an understanding of monitoring systems and data resources for child population health outcomes
- contribute to planning and commissioning processes for local health services for children and young people
Requires some supervision
Possible behaviours of a trainee who needs some supervision to perform this activity
The trainee may:
- demonstrate awareness of health promotion and disease prevention interventions in the local setting
- connect patients to community-based health services and universal health and developmental screening programmes
- demonstrate awareness of the rights of children, disabled peoples, and indigenous peoples
- identify a policy issue or question that affects the health and wellbeing of children, young people, and their families
- demonstrate an emerging understanding of the role of physician leadership and advocacy for improving population health outcomes
- demonstrate an emerging understanding of the role and place of different agencies within the health system