Our success in building a movement rests on the strength of our partnerships and shared understanding of how we can most effectively move forward to amplify the Early Relational Health message. Having a core story for Early Relational Health provides a basic framework and tools to help all our partners galvanize and communicate about Early Relational Health insightfully, passionately, and successfully.
Why Early Relational Health Matters
Early Relational Health Explained
Young children’s growth and development depend on the positive emotional connection that babies and toddlers and their parents and caregivers experience with each other. These early positive relationships also support parents’ and caregivers’ overall well-being by giving them joy, comfort, and meaning.
Early Relational Health Core Story
A Mandate for Equity
The relational health framework brings attention to the many ways inequities — perpetuated by discrimination, racism, and poverty — can cause harm to our health, well-being, and relationships. Also, it highlights how entrenched biases can make it hard to see the strengths of families that look different from our own. Early Relational Health urges us to move from a deficit mindset to an asset framework to support families to discover and strengthen their intrinsic relational capacities and strengths built through cultural and generational wisdom.
Ensuring Families Thrive
Families are the reason that Nurture Connection exists. Early Relational Heath teaches us that to positively influence every child’s developmental outcomes, we must start by supporting their family’s well-being. We know that when we promote Early Relational Health for babies and toddlers, their parents, family members, and other caregivers also experience the benefits of health and well-being.
Join Nurture Connection
Community by community, we are building a networked and engaged movement in partnership with parents and families.
Through our collective commitment and effort, we can make sure that every child is cared for and valued, every family is supported and heard, and every community is made stronger through positive and enduring emotional connection.