Welcome to Life Course Toolbox

questions to consider

What are the unanswered questions about theory?
What are the next steps in theory development?
What are the barriers that need to be overcome in order to advance theory and how do we address them?

Resources and Tools

Theory
- Improving Maternal & Child Health in America: A Life-Course Perspective
  --Michael Lu, MD, MPH
- Selected MCH Life Course Bibliography
- Using a Life-Course Health Development Model to Improve Children's Health
  --Neal Halfon, MD, MPH
- Where Is MCH In Relation to the Life-Course Perspective?
  --Michael Lu, MD, MPH
Research
- The Life Course Research Network
  - The Life Course Research Network
    The Network was formed in late 2010 with a three-year grant from MCHB. This project represents a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of how health develops over the life course by providing researchers, practitioners, policymakers and consumers with a transdisciplinary, translational and transformative mechanism for interacting, sharing information and tools, and engaging in collaborative and innovative projects. These projects will be initiated and led by network members with support from the administrative core at UCLA, with the goal of advancing the field of life course health development research and enabling evidence-based practice and policymaking at the family, local, state, national and international levels.
  - Webinar: Developmental Health and the Life Course - featuring Clyde Hertzman
    Note: You will be asked to register with your email address prior to accessing the archive of the webinar.
- Link to the Life Course Bibliography
Epidemiology and Data
- A Life-Course Approach to MCH Epidemiology - Introduction
  --Milton Kotelchuck, PhD, MPH; Michael Lu, MD, MPH; Padmini Parthasarathy, MPH; Cheri Pies, DrPH, MSW
- A Life Course Approach to MCH Epidemiology
  --Milton Kotelchuck, PhD, MPH
- A Life Course Approach to MCH Epidemiology: Practice and Policy
  --Cheri Pies, DrPH, MSW; Padmini Parthasarathy, MPH
- Core State Preconception Health and Health Care Indicators
  In December 2007, the Public Health Work Group of CDC’s Preconception Health and Health Care Initiative Select Panel convened a separate committee of MCH program managers, epidemiologists, and data managers from seven states (California, Delaware, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas, and Utah) to specify preconception health domains (i.e., priority areas) and propose currently measurable preconception health indicators at the state level. A final list of 45 Core State Preconception Health and Health Care Indicators within 11 different domains was developed. These indicators are meant to allow states to uniformly define, collect, and report on data relevant to the health status of reproductive aged women between the ages of 18 and 44 years.
- Life Course Perspective: A Primer for MCH Epidemiologists
  --Michael Lu, MD, MPH
- “Preconception Health: An Issue for Every Woman of Childbearing Age in Florida”
  This report provides the first comprehensive look at preconception health among Florida’s women of childbearing age. The report covers ten different health areas from health care to chronic diseases, from infections to mental health. The report examines how Florida compares to the U.S., compares over time, and compares among different socio-demographic groups. The report is intended to both educate health care providers and the public and to serve as a resource in planning strategies and activities to improve preconception health in Florida.