Bright Futures for Families offers a variety of materials and resources developed specifically for families to complement the Bright Futures publications and materials used by health care professionals. Families want and need materials that have the same information used by their health care providers, written in a way that they can understand and easily refer back to when needed. Through the support of our public, non-profit and corporate partners we will be developing new materials. These existing and new family friendly materials:

Provide valuable information about child development and what to
  expect, from infancy through adolescence.

Help families form partnerships with their providers.

Empower families to advocate for the health care needs of their
  children.

Encourage families to help their children gradually assume
  responsibility for their own health care.

Bright Futures Materials/Resources Available from Family Voices

October 4, 2012 Webinar: Food for Thought: Lessons Learned from Families about Health & Wellness
Given the opportunity to share their wisdom, families are a wealth of information on how they work to improve health and wellness for their families. In this webinar, participants learned surprising insights that come when families are given the opportunity to share their expertise. Presented by Leslie Carroll, Family Voices IMPACT Project Director; Barbara Popper, MEd, Family Voices Regional Field Coordinator; Gina Pola-Money, Family Voices Regional Field Coordinator, Utah Family Voices Family to Family Health Information Center, Utah CSHCN, URLEND, Medical Home Family Involvement; and Marlyn Wells, NC Family Voices Program Coordinator, Exceptional Children's Assistance Center; with technical assistance by Melissa Vickers, MEd, Family Voices IMPACT Project Coordinator.

• Recording (no recording key is required - just enter your name)
• Presentation
• Handout: Facilitating Family Focus Groups: Best Practices

September 06, 2012 Webinar: Facilitating Successful Focus Groups for Families: Best Practices
This webinar provided participants with skill-building information on how to plan, set up, and run focus groups for families. Presented by Leslie Carroll, Family Voices IMPACT Project Director; Barbara Popper, MEd, Family Voices Regional Field Coordinator; Gina Pola-Money, Family Voices Regional Field Coordinator, Utah Family Voices Family to Family Health Information Center, Utah CSHCN, URLEND, Medical Home Family Involvement; and Marlyn Wells, NC Family Voices Program Coordinator, Exceptional Children's Assistance Center; with technical assistance by Melissa Vickers, MEd, Family Voices IMPACT Project Coordinator.

• Recording (no recording key is required - just enter your name)
• Presentation
• Handout: Helpful Phrases for Facilitating Focus Groups

Now Available!

Bright Futures Family Pocket Guide:
Raising Healthy Infants, Children, and Adolescents—2nd Edition (2012)

Developed for families by families, in partnership with the AAP and other professionals, this convenient, attractive resource is based on the AAP’s Bright Futures: Guidelines for the Health Supervision of Infants, Children, and Adolescents (3rd ed.). The 168-page guide will provide families with:

• Information and encouragement for the roles families play every day in the health and well-being of their children
• Information about the importance of well child visits for all children, including children and youth with special health care needs
• Encouragement to speak up and to take active roles in their children’s care
• Encouragement to form partnerships with other families and with professionals to improve policies, care, services, and support for all children and families
• An overall framework for children’s good health and insight into all those who contribute to it
• Current, comprehensive, succinct information about child development
• Links to resources and further sources of information for children’s good health

For ordering (including bulk orders) go to: Family Voices website. For more information, contact us at: BFPocketGuide@familyvoices.org. Please note: Limited copies are available of the Spanish version, Bright Futures Guía para las Familias, 1st Edition.

Getting to Know Title V

A reference tool available to you that describes Title V mission, history, and services and how families participate in Title V programs and policies.

Family Pocket Guide: Raising Healthy Infants, Children and Adolescents

The Family Pocket Guide covers:

• How to choose and work with a health care provider
• How your child grows from birth to age 21
• What will happen at each health care visit
• What to expect when your child gets older and more

To get more information about bulk order possibilities contact us.

Bright Futures Theme Sheets for Families

Informative 1-pagers for families focused on the 10 themes that recur in all stages of child development. Each 1-pager provides a description of the theme, how the theme relates to the child and family, how the theme relates to the different ages/stages, what families can do to promote healthy development as part of that theme, and additional resources.

• Family Support
• Child Development
• Mental Health
• Healthy Weight
• Healthy Food & Eating
• Physical Activity
• Oral Health
• Healthy Sexual Development & Sexuality
• Safety & Injury Prevention
• Community Relationships & Resources

IMPACT on… Bright Futures Theme Updates - These timely 1-pagers for families have health and wellness tips and resources on Bright Futures themes:

• IMPACT on Child Development
• Children on the Grow (Jan 2013)
• Love—and Desire to Care For—at First Sight/Teens are Still Developing (May 2012)
• Babies Know More/PBS Parents/Amazing Me! (Feb 2012)
• The Teen Brain/Baby Brain (Jan 2012)


• IMPACT on Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing
• Food, Conversation, and Mental Health/Chronic Illness and Mental Health (April 2013)
• Raising Compassionate Kids (Jan 2012)
• Promoting Self-Worth and a Sense of Joy (Jan 2013)
• Sleep—or Maybe to Dream: Teenagers and Sleep (May 2012)
• Raising Confident Kids (Feb 2012)


• IMPACT on Healthy Sexuality
• Healthy Bodies, Healthy Relationships (Jan 2013)
• Promoting Healthy Sexuality: 1, 2, 3 (May 2012)
• Sexuality in the Media (Feb 2012)
• Sexuality is a Part of Growing Up (Jan 2012)


• IMPACT on Nutrition and Healthy Eating
• Healthy Food for Everybody! (Jan 2013)
• Vegetarian Infants and Toddlers (May 2012)
• Eat More Fruits and Vegetables—Tips from Research (Feb 2012)
• What's for Dinner (Jan 2012)


• IMPACT on Physical Activity
• Get Moving! (Jan 2013)
• Playgrounds are for Everybody! (May 2012)
• Don’t Forget to Stretch! (Feb 2012)
• Get Moving! (Jan 2012)


• IMPACT on Oral Health
• Making Healthy Smiles is a Family Project! (April 2013)
• Healthy Smiles (Jan 2013)
• Mouthguards for Safety (May 2012)
• February is National Children’s Dental Health Month! (Feb 2012)
• Four Step to Healthy Smiles (Jan 2012)


• IMPACT on Healthy Weight
• Teens as Mentors for Healthy Weight/Healthy Eating for a Healthy Weight (April 2013)
• Healthy Weight for Lifelong Health (Jan 2013)


• IMPACT on Safety and Injury Prevention
• Home Safety Starts with Prevention (April 2013)
• Growing and Thriving—Safely! (Jan 2013)

Health Care Visit Checklist for all Children Including Children with Special Health Care Needs

A child's health visit is a key time for families and health care providers to share information and observations about the child's development. This checklist helps families prepare for health visits so that they can develop a good relationship with their child's health care provider.

Click here for the PDF version of the Health Care Visit Checklist or Click here for the online version of the Health Care Visit Checklist.

For information on how to obtain bulk orders of the Health Care Visit Checklist please contact us.

Family + Health Care Professionals = Partners for Healthy Children

Families make health decisions for their children every day. Ideally, they know the importance of immunizations and regular check-ups. They understand that good health depends on family routines, including healthy meals, physical activity, and discipline. And, families work with health care professionals to build the strong partnerships that are so important in supporting healthy children.

This handout contains information and resources for you and your family to foster communication in the family/professional partnership.

Click here for the PDF version of Partners for Healthy Children.

For information on how to obtain bulk orders of Partners for Healthy Children please contact us.

Family Talkcards

Group discussion game designed to bring Bright Futures concepts to families to bridge the gap between guidelines and practice. The intent of the Talkcards is to encourage families to share parenting ideas and strategies so others will have a range of options to think about when making their own decisions.

For information on how to obtain the Family Talk Cards please contact us.

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Family Matters

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Bright Futures: Family Matters

2013 issues (in PDF format)
2011 issues (in PDF format)
2010 issues (in PDF format)
2009 issues (in PDF format)
2008 issues (in PDF format)
2007 issues* (in PDF format)
2006 issues* (in PDF format)
2005 issues* (in PDF format)
2004 issues (in PDF format)
2003 issues (in PDF format)
2002 issues (in PDF format)
2001 issues (in PDF format)

* Bright Futures: Family Matters en Español

Transitions- Growing Up and Away
For many families this will be a year to get ready to launch a son or daughter into the next phase of like after high school.
Click here for ten points to consider (HTML version).
Click here (PDF version).

=Materials developed by Family Voices

Bright Futures Health Professional Materials Available from The American Academy of Pediatrics

Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of Infants, Children,
and Adolescents (2nd ed., Revised) and Pocket Guide

Bright Futures in Practice: Mental Health, Volume I & II

Bright Futures in Practice: Nutrition (2nd Edition) and Pocket Guide

Bright Futures in Practice: Physical Activity

Additional Bright Futures Materials Available from The National Center for Education in Maternal and Child Health

Bright Futures Family Tips Sheets (in English and Spanish)

Bright Futures Nutrition Family Fact Sheets (in English and Spanish)

Bright Futures Encounter Forms for Families (in English and Spanish)

Your Child's Health Record (in English and Spanish)

Bright Futures Encounter Forms for Health Professionals

Contact us if you want to be on the Bright Futures for Families mailing list to receive updates on new Bright Futures for Families materials and activities.

Also please contact us with problems downloading documents from our site, comments or questions on the materials offered, information about your experiences or activities with Bright Futures in your state and with any suggestions and comments on how this site can be more helpful to you and families.