Promoting Health for Children and Youth With Special Health Care Needs

Abstract

P r o m o in g H ea tH fo r C H ld r en a n d Yo u tH W tH SP eC ia l H ea tH C a r e n ed S Children and youth with special health care needs share many health supervision needs in common with typically developing children. They also have unique needs related to their specific health condition. Birth defects, inherited syndromes, developmental disabilities, and disorders acquired later in life, such as asthma, are relatively common; children with special health care needs represent nearly 20% of the childhood population, or 14.6 million children.1 In addition, an increasing number of children are receiving diagnoses of developmental disabilities and conduct disorders, which may indicate special health care needs.