Presenter: Associate Professor Sharon Goldfeld

Synopsis:In recent years policy attention has shifted to the early years in recognition of the substantial evidence about its impact on life course throughout life. In Australia there continues to be a marked social gradient across a range of child health and developmental outcomes. These emerge early in life and can be measured well into adulthood, with particularly adverse outcomes for some subpopulation groups. These disparities in child health outcomes will not be addressed by advances in secondary care; addressing inequity requires complex policy response strategies that concurrently consider the health/education interface, the importance of targeted and universal strategies, and the more equitable distribution of programmatic and service funding. Paediatricians and paediatric institutions have a significant leadership role to play in public policy and in undertaking the research that informs and evaluates policy decisions and allocation of resources.

Speakers:Associate Professor Sharon Goldfeld is a paediatrician at the Royal Children’s Hospital’s Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) and Research Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She currently leads the Australian Early Development Index Research Program at CCCH and until recently was the Principal Medical Advisor in the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development after a decade in state government. She has been the recipient of the prestigious international Harkness Fellowship in Health Care Policy and the Aileen Plant Medal in Public Health Research. Her research focus of developing data and indicators, investigating community based systems change and language and literacy based intervention trials, has aligned with her substantial policy experience focussing on projects that keep child health on the policy and political agenda in Victoria and nationally.

Grand Rounds presented on 17 Oct 2012