Promoting First Relationships in Pediatrics

Promoting First Relationships (PFR) in Pediatrics is a university based training program adapted from an evidenced based home visiting program (Promoting First Relationships) by pediatricians to help members of the multidisciplinary primary care team learn how to nurture and support the parent-child relationship in everyday clinic interactions with families and children.  PFR-Pediatrics offers a video-rich curriculum and also includes parent handouts to accompany Well Child visits from newborn through age 2 and Provider Tip sheets for Well Child visits from newborn to age 2. 

The PFR-Pediatrics curriculum is available through either a virtual or in-person training course or a self-paced E-Learning curriculum. 

The PFR in Pediatrics course is for:

Members of the multidisciplinary primary care team—front desk staff, care coordinators, medical assistants, pediatricians, family providers, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, therapists, and navigators.

Participants learn how to:

• Observe and support responsive caregiving during clinic visits by understanding the foundations of early childhood social-emotional development and elements of safe, stable and nurturing child-caregiver relationships.

• Approach well child-care through a relationship focused lens including feeding and sleeping by learning developmental timing of key changes and their impact on the parent-child relationship.
 
• Reframe challenging behaviors for families by helping parents recognize the unmet social and emotional needs that underlie their child’s behavior. 

• Apply specific skills that translate principles of trauma-informed care, cultural humility and strengths-based approaches into everyday clinic interactions ensuring families feel safe, valued and effective in raising their young children. 

• Experience a renewed sense of meaning and joy during their interactions and visits using the relationship-based framework and skills.