5Q: Aimee Falso |
Executive director, Reach Out and Read Rhode Island
1. What is the connection between a child’s literacy skills and their health outcomes? We know that early literacy skills help set a child up for success in school, but we’ve also learned that strong family bonds and relationships with caring adults have an even greater impact on a child’s outcomes in general. A child’s brain is rapidly forming during their first few years of life and the more positive experiences they have, the more resilient they are to issues that adversely impact their physical and mental health.
2. How can a family get their child started with Reach Out and Read? Reach Out and Read is offered at 70 health care sites across R.I. and is available to all families at those sites with children from birth to 5 years old. If a child’s doctor is not currently one of our partnering providers, either the family or the doctor can reach out to us, and we can get them started. Reach Out and Read R.I. fundraises throughout the year through grants, corporate giving … and an annual fundraiser so that there is no cost for health care sites or families to participate in the program.
3. As RORRI is approaching its 25th year, how do you hope to expand the program? Our vision is to make R.I. a state where every child is read to every day, and we are working toward this goal by partnering with every medical provider who provides well-care visits for children under the age of 5. We currently reach about 70% of the children in R.I. in this age group. This scalable public health intervention has been endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics as a critical piece of children’s health care.
4. How has the program changed because of COVID-19? The pandemic taught us a lot about the power of books in helping families get through challenging times. Not only is cuddling while reading a book a way to comfort and calm but the content can help both adults and children talk through some scary issues. Throughout the pandemic, providers asked us for books that dealt with feelings, emotions and loss to use as tools to help families cope better.
5. RORRI has expanded into neonatal intensive care unit clinics. How does reading benefit those with newborns? We’re excited to now be partnering with the NICU follow-up clinic that supports children who graduate from the NICU through age 5. Many of these children are at greater risk for delayed language development, so encouraging families to read aloud helps to improve the child’s outcomes and set a stronger foundation for success.
