Promoting early childhood health and literacy Megan Brady, MPH, MSW Project Coordinator Henry Ford Health System Institute on Multicultural Health

Learning Objectives Identify links between early childhood literacy skills and future health status Describe a program to promote early childhood health and literacy Describe the challenges of recruiting participants to a community health education program

background

READ History HFHS Institute on Multicultural Health Project Great Start, 2004 Funding from Sanofi-Aventis

Why childhood health and literacy? About 47% of Detroiters are functionally illiterate (National Adult Literacy Study) Exposure to books and reading in the first years of life increases the probability of both healthy child development and school success (Reach Out and Read, Policy Case)

implementation

READ Goals Goals To provide a guided reading program for children to promote early childhood reading and family interaction To foster partnerships between families, Henry Ford Health System, Health Alliance Plan, and the neighboring community To increase family awareness and participation in health-promoting and prevention activities To promote desired social, developmental, and health outcomes of children during early childhood

READ Objectives Objectives Disseminate culturally-appropriate reading materials to each child and their guardians to promote early childhood education Disseminate culturally-appropriate health promotion materials to each parent or legal guardian to promote desired health outcomes in children during early childhood

READ Recruitment Recruiting families Pulled information from our Corporate Data Store to identify Henry Ford patients (ages 3-5 years old) living in a particular zip code Sent letters to eligible families Also posted flyers at organizations in the neighborhood and made announcements at community meetings

READ Recruitment Enlisting volunteers Physicians HAP employees Sent an invitation to pediatricians and family practitioners in the system asking them to participate or recommend a nurse/PA/NP in their office to participate Ended up finding most participation from family practice residents HAP employees Sent an email invitation to HAP employees through volunteer services coordinator Received a huge response! Each attended a volunteer training

READ Activities Summary of program activities Child component Volunteers read the children pre-selected books that are related to the topic of the day The children engage in activities related to the books and health topics Each child takes home a copy of one of the books and a related gift incentive

READ Activities Summary of program activities Parent component Parents hear from a healthcare provider on the topic of the day Presentations are prepared for the healthcare provider by READ program staff and are based on the American Academy of Pediatrics, “Bright Futures” curriculum Parent have an opportunity to have all their questions answered by the healthcare providers

evaluation

READ Evaluation Process evaluation Documented in an annual program report, detailing number of participants and volunteers recruited and changes made to the program Since 2005… 86 families have participated in READ 97% of adults were African American 82% were between 20-40 years old 78% had at least some college education

READ Evaluation Program evaluation 100% reported excellent, very good, or good on overall satisfaction with the program the majority of which fell into either excellent or very good

READ Evaluation Program evaluation Participants named “speaker knowledge of topic,” “materials for children,” “activities for kids,” and “information for parents” as things they liked most about the program. One person suggested “personal hygiene” as a suggestion for future topics. And suggestions for improving the quality of the program included, “more sessions” and to “advertise to ‘outsiders.’”

lessons learned

READ Successes and Barriers Program is well-received by the participants Put on 1st Children’s Health and Reading Fair Barriers Low turn-out Low return rate

Megan Brady mbrady2@hfhs.org questions? Megan Brady mbrady2@hfhs.org