A physician with a juris doctor and advanced degrees in business, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva has worked in the health care field for over three decades. Since 2012, Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva has served as associate executive director of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
A recent report issued by AAP provides updated recommendations for physicians who care for children of military families. The report, which appears in the January 2019 issue of the journal Pediatrics, updates 2013 guidelines that identify best practices for meeting the physical and mental health needs of military children who receive care in both military and civilian medical centers.
According to the report, military children move geographic locations as frequently as every two years. Research has shown that these frequent moves can lead to an increase in mental health encounters and emergency department visits. Studies have also shown that some military children are at higher risk of maltreatment and substance abuse.
To better support military children, the recent AAP report recommends that physicians work closely with military programs and community-based resources that help families of deployed service members. The report also recommends that physicians establish clinical processes within their own practices to identify military children and document their parents’ deployment and mental health histories. More information about the report and other recent work from AAP is available at www.aap.org.
Dr. Ramesh Sachdeva 