Child & Adolescent Health

Community Pediatrics

Through a partnership of community stakeholders and agencies, NewYork-Presbyterian Ambulatory Care Network, and the Department of Pediatrics at Columbia University, ColumbiaDoctors general pediatricians impact the health and well-being of local children, adolescents, and their families through innovative population health initiatives, pediatric training experiences, scholarship, and research—all of which aim to reduce child-related health disparities in the local communities. The partnership supports community initiatives that empower individuals and families to promote health and wellness, better navigate local systems of care and local resources, improve school readiness and academic achievement, and, ultimately improve their quality of life. Partnership Population Health Initiatives include:

  • Center for Community Health Navigation supports the health and well-being of patients through the delivery of culturally-sensitive, peer-based support to promote self-management and decrease avoidable healthcare utilization.
  • Family PEACE Trauma Treatment Center (Preventing Early Adverse Childhood Experiences) interrupts the intergenerational transmission of trauma, violence, and abuse by providing quality psychological treatment to children from birth up to age five and their primary caregivers who have been exposed to trauma. 
  • Reach Out and Read (ROR) is a national, hospital-based, pre-literacy program that links reading aloud with giving books to children ages six months to five years old during their primary health care visits. 
  • HEAL (Health Education and Adult Literacy) aims to improve health literacy of caregivers, utilizing culturally responsive health education materials taught in waiting rooms.
  • Lang Youth Medical Program is a six-year science enrichment medical pipeline program for talented youth who represent the diversity of the Washington Heights and Inwood communities in New York City. 
  • Turn 2 Us is a mental health promotion and prevention program serving local elementary schools in northern Manhattan. 
  • CHALK (Choosing Healthy & Active Lifestyles for Kids) is an integrated obesity prevention program to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity in northern Manhattan with a focus on schools, the medical center, and the community.