Six Questions for Well-Child Care Redesign

In the United States, well-child care has the goal of providing comprehensive care to children by addressing developmental, behavioral, psychosocial, and health issues through visits at recommended intervals. The preventive care needs of families can outpace the capacity of clinics and practices to provide it, necessitating a redesign of our well-child care system that aligns the structure of preventive care delivery with the needs of families. Here we focus on 6 questions (the what, when, who, why, how, and where) for well-child care redesign for infants and young children. By addressing these key questions and providing recommendations for advancing well-child care redesign in the clinical and research arenas, we hope to accelerate the process of well-child care redesign. In the current political and socioeconomic environment, continuing with well-child care "as usual" will mean that many families will find that their well-child care visits do not fully address the most pressing needs impacting children's health and well-being. It is time to implement and sustain real change in our system for preventive care.