The Codman Curriculum for Group Well-Child Care was developed to address the specific needs of the Codman Square community in Dorchester, MA.  A team of facilitators, co-facilitators, case managers, educators and clinicians at Codman Square Health Center with experience in group medical visits used a participatory action research approach to better understand community needs and ideas for improvement. Particular challenges raised include poverty, violence, social isolation, depression, obesity, diabetes, access to healthcare, access to safe play, unplanned pregnancy, and preterm birth.

 

The Codman Curriculum can be used freely by other health centers, but should be adjusted to meet the unique needs of each community served.

Codman Square Health Center received an Innovation Grant from the Vital Village Community Engagement Network that supported the process of incorporating trauma-informed activities into the curriculum conceptually, the formation of a parent advisory committee for Trauma-Informed Group Well-Child Care, and the program evaluation.  This first draft was studied during a 3 month implementation period, iterative, Plan-Do-Study-Act [PDSA] improvement cycles, and qualitative study including focus groups and design meetings. The research was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Boston University Medical Center, and IRB Authorization Agreements (IAA) were obtained from DotWell and Boston HealthNet. These findings were published in the Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma and can be found HERE.

Download the curriculum HERE

Recommended citation: Codman Square Health Center. Codman Curriculum for Group Well-Child Care. Boston, 2014: 1-13. Available at: www.codman.org. Access date.

Authors to the 2014 edition include Sanam Roder DeWan, MD, Lauren K. Graber, MD, MPH, Morgan Brockington, BA, CLC, Marjorie S. Rosenthal, MD, MPH, and Tamiya Tabb.  Contributors include Renée Boynton-Jarrett, MD, ScD and C. Melissa Ryan, LICSW.