Brighter Beginnings First 2000 Days Summit
Professor Valsamma Eapen
Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UNSW Sydney
Valsamma Eapen is Chair of Infant, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at UNSW Sydney, Clinical Academic and Head, Academic Unit of Child Psychiatry and Director, BestSTART Child Health Academic Unit at South Western Sydney Local Health District. Eapen has been the Director of the Early Years Program at the Autism Co-operative Research Centre, playing key roles in leading a national autism subtyping program, contributing to the Australian Autism Biobank and the development of the National Autism Guideline and Autism Early Intervention Guideline; Eapen is currently part of the National ADHD guideline development.
Eapen is also Stream Director for Early Life Determinants of Health (ELDoH) Clinical Academic Group under SPHERE, an NHMRC accredited Advanced Health Research and Translational Centre. Eapen has a clinical and research interest in neurodevelopmental disorders including autism and Tourette Syndrome and has authored over 350 peer reviewed publications, and >150 conference presentations including national and international keynote and plenary talks, alongside television/radio/print media contributions.
Eapen is part of major research collaborations totalling >40M in funding. Testament to Eapen’s national and international standing include several leadership roles (e.g. Treasurer, International Neuropsychiatry Association; Chair, Bi-national Faculty of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, RANZCP), memberships in major consortiums (e.g. Autism International Homozygosity Mapping Collaborative, Psychiatric Genomics Consortium, Obsessive Compulsive Foundation Genetics Collaborative) and editorial roles (e.g. Academic Editor, PLOS ONE, BMC Psychiatry; Editor-In-Chief, IACAPAP Textbook).
Abstract
Engaging Families in the Early Years across all settings
Reversing the Inverse Care Law for equitable access to child and family health
This presentation will discuss the importance of investment in the First 2000 days in order to break the cycle of long-term and intergenerational disadvantage. With a special focus on neurodevelopmental and behavioural disorders of childhood, both the biological and social determinants and its interaction in a cumulative fashion will be discussed. Currently there is an 'inverse care law' in that children from most disadvantaged backgrounds with highest developmental risk are least accessing prevention and health promotion services; reversing this trend will need a re-imagination of the health system. To achieve this, it is critical to understand the role of early life stress on the developing brain and the consequent clinical symptoms. In discussing how best to intervene, a systems-based approach will be presented that includes capacity-building in the workforce, strengths-based approaches to build family and community resilience, and the establishment of equity-focused pathways of care using a 'proportionate universalism' model comprising universal services alongside targeted approaches that commensurate with needs.
NSW Health acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land across NSW, whose cultures and customs have nurtured and continue to nurture this land.
We would like to pay our respects to the Elders past, present and emerging, for they hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and the hopes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across the state.