Visiting your child’s pediatrician is beneficial to every aspect of your child’s health, growth, and development. One thing often overlooked is how important it is to build a long-term relationship with your child’s pediatrician and their entire care team. A pediatric provider, nursing staff, and friendly faces will make your child’s experience more pleasant as well!
The Importance Of A Long-Term Relationship With A Pediatrician
Here at Wake Forest Pediatrics, we strive to improve patient care by strengthening the patient-doctor relationship, providing open communication, and working as a team for a comprehensive approach to medical care. With your child’s health and happiness at the forefront of our minds, continue reading to learn some of the benefits of a long-term relationship with your child’s pediatrician.
1. Increase Your Child’s Comfort Level
Trust and comfort are two essential factors in any successful relationship. Through a long-term relationship with your child’s pediatrician, you can build upon both of those values. Additionally, your child is more likely to share information regarding their mental and physical health with adults they feel comfortable with.
2. Help Navigate Your Child’s Development
Not only is developing a long-term relationship with your child’s pediatrician beneficial for them, but it also helps you as a parent. The role of your child’s pediatrician is much bigger than you may realize— they’re an invaluable source of information, support, and advice.
3. Collect A Comprehensive Medical History
One of the most important parts of your child’s development is being able to collect and maintain a comprehensive medical record. By seeing your children for their annual check-ups and all appointments in between, your pediatrician will be able to effectively understand your child’s health and recommend treatments and other regimens.
4. Analyze The Warning Signs Of Health Problems
A long-term relationship with your child’s pediatrician can help analyze the potential warning signs of health problems in your child. This long-term relationship allows your child’s pediatrician to gather information about who your child is. In some cases, your pediatrician may be able to pick up on mental or behavioral issues that you were unable to pick up on. Other developmental setbacks your pediatrician may recognize include emotional distress, academic struggles, or social anxiety.
5. Develop A Care Plan That Works For You
Developing a care plan for your child as they grow and develop is essential in raising a happy and healthy young adult. The framework of a care plan may include three essential factors:
- A child’s developmental needs
- Parenting capacity
- Family and environmental factors
This can be created from information gathered over time and from recent assessments. Because past evaluation plays a role in developing a good care plan, sustaining a long-term relationship with your child’s pediatrician is essential.
6. Encourage Positive Habits
Yet another benefit of a long-term relationship with your child’s pediatrician is their ability to provide and encourage positive habits. As your child ages and their relationship with their pediatrician grows, they will learn to trust the words and recommendations they are given. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests developmentally appropriate play and relationships with parents, authority figures, and peers offer opportunities to promote the social-emotional, cognitive, language, and self-regulation skills that build executive function.
We understand how important it is to develop a long-term relationship with your child’s pediatrician. Wake Forest Pediatrics is committed to providing our patients with quality, comprehensive care. If you have questions or concerns about your child’s health, call our Wake Forest office at 919-556-4779 or our Knightdale office at 919-266-5059 to make an appointment. We would love to get to know you better and learn more about your child so that we can help them reach their full potential!
