Brighter Futures Wahkiakum encourages whole-child health

Child & Adolescent Clinic, Wahkiakum County Health & Human Services, Cowlitz Family Health Center, Wahkiakum School District, CHOICE (Community Health Organization Improving Care and Equity), and ESD 112 comprises Brighter Futures Wahkiakum, a home-grown effort to improve health outcomes for children in the community.

Partner agencies have come together in Wahkiakum to provide education and support to families, encourage well-child visits, increase access to emotional care, and help connect people to community services.

Justin Helms stepped into the role of Clinic Manager at the Wahkiakum Cowlitz Family Health Center clinic in October of last year. Along with several others in Brighter Futures Wahkiakum, he performs his role passionately. “Every day our children face physical and mental challenges that just didn’t exist 25 years ago,” Helms stated. “The landscape of health care and the tools needed to help address all the issues that children face these days has changed drastically and continues to change. It's so hard for parents and families these days to make sure that their children are doing well, and there are so many barriers to navigate sometimes. It is vitally important to have skilled and knowledgeable partners to help. We are here to do that, and that is extraordinarily exciting for me and every single person in this group.”

Although the scope of work between partner agencies can appear divergent and specialized, there are many opportunities to intersect and connect efforts. “It’s not just their physical well-being,” Helms continued, “because we all understand that there is so much more to caring for our children. We are committed to taking a whole-child approach to providing support and care. Whether it’s sports physicals, well-child exams, or giving them the tools to navigate the emotional and mental stresses that our children face every single day, we are here to be a partner in the health of the children in this county.”

Elizabeth Kimble is another impassioned member of the group and serves as the Clinical Services Supervisor and a Mental Health Therapist at Wahkiakum County Health & Human Services. She represents the clinical behavioral health aspect of the ‘whole-person health’ model within Brighter Futures Wahkiakum. “Annual well-child visits,” Kimble offered, “are often a key way to identify early signs of a behavioral health need and identify interventions to prevent a behavioral health condition from developing… or catch it early before it becomes difficult to manage and assist families in finding the right support.”

“Early interventions to teach kids healthy coping and social skills,” Kimble continued, “reduces the impact of other life stresses on a child’s mental health, reduces the risk of later academic or discipline problems, and reduces the risk of a child resorting to substances or other unhealthy methods to cope. Catching early signs of behavioral health needs, or risk factors for one to develop, during well-child visits can help spot kids that would be good fits for those kinds of programs, which often take place in the school or community at no or low cost to families. Well-child visits can also explore whether complaints that look physical, such as problems sleeping, stomachaches, and headaches might actually be coming from a mental health need. I once had an adolescent I was working with who was chronically irritable and reported stomachaches and feeling sick a lot, which looked like school avoidance or chronic stress. It turned out he had diabetes. So if a kid is already getting behavioral health services, getting

those well-child visits is equally important to make sure a medical need isn’t the root cause of a behavioral health symptom.”

Brighter Futures Wahkiakum hopes to create lasting impact on lives in the community and is planning many opportunities to connect with parents in the very near future. They’ll be present at Bald Eagle Days, walking in the parade, operating a mobile exam unit, and bringing along plenty of giveaway prizes. In August, they’re hosting their very own well-child event at the Cowlitz Family Health Center in Cathlamet. Providers will be available for a limited number of spots to check learning milestones, conduct sports physicals, and connect to resources. A mental health specialist will also be available to visit and parents can bring their children to meet Cinderella, get bubbles and sidewalk chalk, and win raffles including items donated by Maria’s, The Cottage, Pizza Mill, and The Jabber Shack.

The collaboration excitedly awaits connecting with the community and have big hopes for the future. To stay up to date with all of their events and communications, you can find them on Facebook at Brighter Futures Wahkiakum.