In 2002, the MCHB contracted with Health Systems Research, Inc. (HSR) to conduct the first national evaluation of Bright Futures. MCHB subsequently funded HSR to conduct a series of case studies exploring how Bright Futures has been used in public health child health promotion efforts, as well as to develop a resource guide for States and communities on how to use Bright Futures in their own efforts to improve the health of children and the quality of care they receive.

All of HSR’s reports and resource guides are available below:

• Assessing the Bright Futures for Infants, Children and Adolescents Initiative: Findings from a National Process Evaluation presents the findings of the national process evaluation conducted by HSR. The report describes the evolution of the initiative between 1990 and 2002 and assesses progress on the initiative’s objectives related to development and dissemination of Bright Futures philosophy and materials, training, partnerships, and evaluation. It includes a wide array of examples of how Bright Futures has been incorporated into clinical practice, education and training, public health programs, and policy development activities related to children’s health, as well as recommendations for the future of the initiative:
  
  
  • Bright Futures Process Evaluation Report (1.42 mb)
  • Executive Summary Only (.11 mb)
  
  
  
• Using Bright Futures in Public Health Efforts to Promote Child Health: Findings from Six Case Studies includes a synthesis of case study findings as well as the individual case study reports. The synthesis addresses cross-cutting findings including why Bright Futures is used, who uses Bright Futures, and how Bright Futures is used in public health activities including policy development and planning, education and training of health and related professionals, education and outreach to families and communities, and clinical practice. Challenges faced by case study States in maintaining and enhancing their Bright Futures efforts, as well as strategies for addressing them, are also discussed.
  
  
  • Full report, including synthesis and case studies (.72 mb)
  • Synthesis Only (.15 mb)
  • Individual State Case Study Reports:
    
    
    • Georgia's Bright Futures Story describes the State’s use of Bright Futures as part of an overall effort to improve child health indicators. In particular, these efforts have focused on incorporating Bright Futures’ use into Medicaid-covered well-child examinations delivered by local health departments, especially by enhancing the anticipatory guidance provided to parents. Bright Futures has also been used in oral health and mental health promotion efforts.
    
    
    
    • Louisiana's Bright Futures Story describes how Bright Futures use has evolved in the context of a changing public health system. Initially, the State used Bright Futures as a tool for strengthening the provision of direct services in public health clinics. As the State’s role in direct care has diminished, Bright Futures has been used in other child health promotion efforts, such as those focused on infant mental health and nutrition, including a statewide home visiting program for first-time, low-income pregnant women and their infants.
    
    
    
    • Maine's Bright Futures Story describes how Maine has used Bright Futures as a standard of care for the State’s public health insurance programs. The State has designed clinical forms based on Bright Futures for all recommended well-child visits and reimburses providers who complete them at an enhanced rate. Patients that require followup care after a well-child exam receive home visits conducted in accordance with Bright Futures by public health nurses.
    
    
    
    • South Carolina's Bright Futures Story describes how the State has used Bright Futures as an integral tool in its efforts to improve children’s oral health. Bright Futures has been incorporated into policies, family and community education and outreach, and provider training activities to address the oral health goals outlined in Healthy People 2010.
    
    
    
    • Virginia's Bright Futures Story describes Virginia’s adoption of Bright Futures as the State child health standard and the myriad ways in which it has been championed through policy, training, education and outreach, collaborations, and service delivery. This case study describes the evolution of the Bright Futures Virginia initiative from its official launch in 2001 through its release in late 2005 of Web-based training modules -- developed through a major public-private collaboration -- for using Bright Futures to deliver high quality Medicaid/EPSDT services to children and teens.
    
    
    
    • Washington State's Bright Futures Story describes Washington’s various approaches for integrating Bright Futures into State child health promotion efforts, including by providing ongoing support for a major university to provide leadership for Bright Futures activities. Major areas of focus have included integrating Bright Futures into academic training programs, training of school nurses and Child Care Health Consultants, and - with funding from a Congressional earmark in 2003 - the use of Bright Futures in early childhood programs including Head Start.
  
  
  
• Promoting Utilization of Bright Futures Health Supervision Guidelines: A How-to Guide for States and Communities is a user-friendly resource guide intended to help those interested in using the Bright Futures philosophy and materials to increase health quality and well-being among children and families. This guide is intended to be used by an array of individuals, organizations, agencies, and groups. It provides concrete information on how to get the Bright Futures process started and how to sustain it.



• How-To Guide for States and Communities (.17 mb)

For more resources, please visit the Bright Futures Additional Resource Page.