Created to transform the local systems of care in communities across the United States, Feeding Matters’ Advocacy and Early Intervention Model (AIM) brought together more than 28 community partners interested in establishing replicable norms for identification, early intervention, and healthcare reimbursement for children with pediatric feeding disorder.

Over the last 18 months, the Arizona AIM Task Force has been hard at work examining the needs of the local Arizona community and determining which of these local needs point to a greater demand from the feeding community at-large. The issues that arose during the community analysis included a lack of awareness on pediatric feeding disorder, the inability to access providers, and an inadequate pool of qualified providers.

With this in mind, the task force identified education and professional collaboration as high areas of need for the field.

To meet this need, Feeding Matters is launching its newest program – the Professional Collaborative. This mentoring program for medical professionals and clinicians in Maricopa County will feature curriculum and resources on pediatric feeding disorder, with the goal of eventually expanding the program nationally.

The Professional Collaborative aims to reduce medical risk and co-morbidities by increasing participation in meaningful life function necessary for health and wellness. This program will also reduce the economic stress of prolonged medical dependency, promote caregiver mental health, lower the risk of child neglect and injury, ensure access to high quality care, and decrease overall costs through efficient service delivery. Additional benefits from the formation of the Professional Collaborative include the following:

• Therapists will be able to utilize a local network for collaboration and expertise/advice.
• Referrals to the proper healthcare provider will be made more accurately and effectively, thereby decreasing waitlists for medically-fragile children.
• Enhanced collaboration through a highly-skilled cohort of medical professionals will enable enhanced care.

Interested in learning more about Feeding Matters Professional Collaborative? Register for our monthly healthcare professional newsletter or click here to vote on curriculum topics and submit your own ideas!