EDOPC Staff & Consultants
Advocate Health Care, Healthy Steps Program
Advocate Health Care, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, is the largest fully integrated not-for-profit health care delivery system in metropolitan Chicago and is recognized as one of the top 10 systems in the country. Tracing its beginnings back 100 years, Advocate has eight hospitals with 3,500 beds and more than 200 sites of care. More than 24,500 people work at Advocate. With more than 4,600 affiliated physicians Advocate has Chicago’s largest economically aligned physician network. Related to both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the United Church of Christ, Advocate’s mission is to serve the health needs of individuals, families and communities through a holistic philosophy rooted in our fundamental understanding of human beings as created in the image of God. To guide its relationships and actions, Advocate embraces the five values of compassion, equality, excellence, partnership and stewardship.
Healthy Steps for Young Children (Healthy Steps) began in 1997 as a national initiative that focuses on the importance of the first three years of life. Healthy Steps emphasizes a close relationship between health care professionals and parents in addressing the physical, emotional, and intellectual growth and development of children from birth to age three. The Healthy Steps approach is being implemented in pediatric and family practices across the country and is meeting an array of community needs while preserving its unique linkage to a team of health care professionals. Advocate Health Care’s Healthy Steps program is recognized as a national leader in the delivery of developmental care to children 0-3, has partnered with diverse health care sites and early childhood programs in the Chicago metropolitan area to implement a model of care that enhances parent/provider interaction and improves patient satisfaction. Through training and technical assistance the program has impacted private physician practices, federally qualified health centers, pediatric and family practice residency programs, day care centers, public health departments, and hospitals.
Advocate Health Care, Healthy Steps Program EDOPC Staff:
Debbie Beck, Healthy Steps Coordinator
Anita Berry, MSN, CNP, APN Director
Ram Chalasani, MBBS, MPH, Healthy Steps Consultant
Patty Mack, RN, LMFT, Healthy Steps Consultant
Sheila Stadler, MS Healthy Steps Coordinator
Illinois Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics
ICAAP is an organization of approximately 2,300 pediatricians in Illinois. The mission of the ICAAP is to promote the right of all children to live happy, safe, and healthy lives, to ensure children receive quality medical care from pediatricians and to assess and serve the needs of its membership. Primary activities include advocacy on behalf of children, families, and health professionals in Illinois; the provision of continuing medical education and other resources for pediatricians, pediatric specialists, and other child health care providers; and collaboration with other state organizations and agencies on programs and projects that improve the health and well-being of children.
ICAAP’s primary activities are educational programs funded by state/city agencies, private foundations, and corporations and targeted to primary care providers. Chapter educational projects address asthma diagnosis and management, tobacco cessation counseling, immunizations, developmental screening, and other topics, and focused on practice-based programming that provides personalized content for pediatricians as well as the other health professionals and support staff in their offices. Advocacy efforts focused on protecting and raising Medicaid reimbursement rates, increasing gun control measures, and improving immunization practices and availability. Finally, ICAAP helps connect pediatricians throughout the state through its quarterly newsletter, web site, and dozens of educational, networking, and social events.
ICAAP EDOPC Staff:
Scott Allen, MS, Executive Director
Juanona Brewster, MDiv, MTS, MJ, Director of Early Childhood Development Projects
Rachel Sacks, MPH, Manager of Early Childhood Development Projects
Project Evaluation:
Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago
Kimberly Dadisman, PhD
Kimberly Dadisman has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and is a researcher at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. She has a decade of experience conducting research and evaluations with children and families, in school, home and community settings. She is currently an evaluator for Illinois Project Launch, a federally funded project focusing on the promotion of wellness in young children birth to 8 years in four community areas in Chicago.
Julie Spielberger, PhD
Julie Spielberger is a Research Fellow, has expertise in child development and early care and education and improving program quality and professional development. She is currently leading several studies of early childhood system-building initiatives to improve the quality and effectiveness of early childhood services, and their coordination and integration with other service systems. She has a Ph.D. in Child Development from the Erikson Institute, Loyola University Chicago, and an M.S.T. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Chicago.
Child Health Data Lab at Children’s Memorial Research Center
Jenifer Cartland, PhD
Jenifer Cartland, PhD, a research assistant professor at the Northwestern University Medical School, is the Director of CHDL and oversees its daily operations. Dr. Cartland is a public policy analyst with fifteen years of experience working on child and adolescent health and welfare issues. Her areas of expertise include health care financing, community-based interventions and child and adolescent injury.
Tracie L. Smith, MPH
Tracie L. Smith, MPH, is an epidemiologist at the Child Health Data Lab at the Children's Memorial Research Center. She has worked at CHDL since September 2006 and has several years’ experience and training in diabetes research at the University of Chicago. She received her Master’s in Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago in Maternal Child Health/Epidemiology.
