| Welcome To Our Newest Programs! |  | |
Baystate Medical Practices, Northampton
|
|
|
Reach Out and Read New England
Massachusetts Newsletter - Spring 2011 
Serving 184,145 MA children in 217 Programs |
|
Dear Reach Out and Read Colleagues,
There are many important articles in the newsletter this month, featuring community partners that help Sites with funding, information on new training and QI initiatives, and our exciting event Read Romp + Rock.
But our biggest news is the upcoming conference, The Journey Toward Literacy Begins at Birth, jointly presented by Reach Out and Read Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, and scheduled for 9 am - 3pm on Friday April 8th at UMass Memorial Hospital-University Campus in Worcester.
We hope that the low $15 registration fee, the central location, and the outstanding agenda outlined in the article below, will encourage and enable medical assistants and other support staff from your practice to attend.
A special invitation is extended to front office staff, who can become an important connection between families in your practice and representatives of the community resources who will be attending. Our goal is to help you strengthen these local connections!
Register online at: https://www.reachoutandread.org/bookdrive/default.aspx?ref=eec. Parking information, a detailed agenda, and directions will be sent upon receipt of registration.
As always, please feel free to contact me, Nora, Heather, or Lee with any questions. We hope to see members from your clinic or practice there.
Best Regards,
Alison
Alison Corning Clarke, MA, MSW
Massachusetts Programs Director
|
|
The Journey Toward Literacy Begins at Birth
Conference Outline
Conference topics will include presentations on specific elements that prepare infants and preschool children for learning to read, including:
· The importance of early language and
back-and-forth conversations with infants
· The development of phonological awareness
· Modeling dialogic reading
· The cognitive benefits of early bilingualism
· The effects of screen time
And will include an afternoon workshop presenting
· An on-line early literacy screening tool that can be used with four-year-olds to determine their early literacy skills prior to kindergarten, combined with
· Specific enrichment exercises for parents tied to the screening outcomes.
· Carefully selected handouts including DVDs and online resources for use with parents to enhance their literacy-related interactions with their children.
Thank you to our sponsors:
The Barr Foundation and The Weezie Foundation
|
Your Training Questions Answered
We've gotten a number of questions from Sites about the new online training for Reach Out and Read providers and coordinators. Hopefully they are answered below, but if not, please contact your Regional Coordinator or Nora Murphy.
Why are Sites required to complete provider training?
What distinguishes Reach Out and Read from other interventions is that it is evidence-based. There are 14 peer-reviewed studies that show that if the Reach Out and Read model is done with fidelity we can increase the amount of time parents read to their children and give a six-month developmental gain to these vulnerable children. Thus it is crucial that the program model is utilized correctly to ensure that our children receive these amazing benefits. This new training program is part of our effort at Reach Out and Read to improve program quality and consistency.
What does the new training program include?
The 1.25 hour, online CME training program incorporates video vignettes of experienced primary care providers working with their patients in the exam room, and integrates them with the Bright Futures guidelines.
Is this program different from the PDF or live training I took in the past two years?
Reach Out and Read Massachusetts piloted an earlier version of this training through live trainings around the state and through a PDF. If you completed that training, you do not need to complete the online version, but you may do so if you would like the additional 1.25 CME.
How do I, and other providers/staff in my practice, access the training?
Make sure to list all providers in your practice who participate in Reach Out and Read and their email addresses in your Site's portal at www.myror.org. Many Sites also list other staff (e.g., MAs, RNs, etc.) since they often have important roles to play in the success of the program. Each person will then be emailed an individual login name and password to enter into www.myror.org to access the training link.
What are the mechanics of the training?
Because the training utilizes video vignettes, it will not be available on computer networks that block YouTube, but you may choose to take the training on your home computer. It is possible to save work while taking the training and to return to it later
I can't find/remember my individual (as opposed to my Site) login information for myror.org. What should I do?
Contact your Regional Coordinator!! We are always glad to help.
|
Quality Improvement Initiative
Massachusetts Reach Out and Read Practices Briarpatch Pediatrics (Yarmouthport); Martha Eliot CHC (Boston); St. Anne's (Fall River); Quincy Pediatrics (Quincy); and Atkinson Family Practice (Amherst), along with 25 other Sites nationwide, are participating in the first round of Reach Out and Read's QI Project, which begins in March 2011 and concludes in November 2011 in order to meet the December 2011 MOC deadline.
The goal of the project is to help provide patients and their families with the best books and the best messages about language and literacy development in their critical early years. Designed to identify best practices of Reach Out and Read systems, the project aims to improve outcomes at a Site in such a way that every eligible child receives an age- and language-appropriate book and every parent/caregiver receives reading aloud advice. Additional Projects will be initiated bi-annually for those with greater flexibility with their Certification needs, and we will continue to offer the Project until we have met the needs of our Reach Out and Read Programs and Providers.
More information about the Reach Out and Read QI Project can be found at the following link: QI Overview Jan 2011.
|
|
READ ROMP + ROCK!
We hope you'll join us for a night of dinner, drinks, and dancing on Friday, April 8th, 2011 at the beautiful WGBH studios! This fun night out begins at 6:30pm and features our signature Celebrity Reader Raffle!
|
Meteorologist J.C. Monahan Tours Reach Out and Read Site
J.C. Monahan, Channel 5 Meteorologist, visited the Reach Out and Read Program at Brookside Community Health Center on Friday, March 11. J.C., a Reach Out and Read Media Ambassador who will attend the upcoming Read Rock + Romp event on April 8th, heard from Dr. Sonia Diaz about her experiences with Reach Out and Read. J.C. also had a chance to observe a well-child visit first-hand when a patient of Dr. Wanda Lopez-Rodriguez graciously included her in the exam room!
To see pictures of J.C.'s visit, go to Massachusetts' Facebook page.
|
The Fallon Clinic Foundation Makes A Difference!
Reach Out and Read Sites around Massachusetts benefit from many kinds of support in making their Practice contributions. Some Sites, like Swansea Pediatrics, are supported by the providers themselves, who contribute Practice funds; others, like Pediatric Associates of Fall River, have organized in-house fund-raisers such as dress-down days. The Brockton Neighborhood Health Center holds out-of-office fundraisers like book fairs and bake sales. And the Jamaica Plain Community Health Centers have benefited enormously from the fund-raising efforts of Natalia Festa at Comrades.
Another type of support for a group of Reach Out and Read Sites takes place at the six Fallon Clinic Sites in Central Massachusetts. Between the clinics in Auburn, Leominster, Milford, Spencer, and Worcester, almost 5000 books were given out during well-child visits in the last six months! These Sites are fortunate to have been the recipients of $3000 in grant money from the Fallon Clinic Foundation last year to supplement the sustainability books received through Reach Out and Read.
Fallon Clinic Foundation promotes health in Central Massachusetts through education, innovation, support of quality improvement, and access to services. The Foundation is a strong believer in supporting early literacy, working hand-in-hand with the Fallon Clinic Reach Out and Read Sites. The Foundation has a designated Reach Out and Read fund that is supported largely from donations from Fallon clinic employees, friends, community members, and corporate donors. Donations are collected throughout the year and distributed on an annual basis to Fallon Clinic Sites that practice Reach Out and Read.
Kelsa Zereski, the Director of Philanthropy for Fallon Clinic, reports that they are able to give Reach Out and Read Sites funding in amounts ranging from $250 - $1000 each year, depending on their needs. These funds help the clinics purchase additional books and have also been used to create reading nooks, helping to achieve the Reach Out and Read objective of creating a literacy-rich environment in the waiting room. Fallon Clinic and the Foundation have also worked to provide qualified volunteers to help organize books and read to groups of children.
Fallon Clinic Foundation is a tremendous example of community support for Reach Out and Read. The six Fallon clinics that practice Reach Out and Read are very fortunate to have the support of the Foundation!
|
|
|
A Warm Thank You To Our Supporters!
A shout-out to our long-time partner, Barnes and Noble for their Saugus store's generous contribution to the Reach Out and Read Program at Children's Hospital.
A special thank-you to Andy Porter and the Holliston Lions Club, who over the past four years have collected almost 4000 new and gently-used books for Reach Out and Read
through their Books for Giving program.
Terry Lynn McCormick stopped by our office with bags of books her family had collected...these books went straight to the waiting room at Union Square, Somerville.
Delta Kappa Gamma, the society for women educators, contributed waiting room books that will brighten the day of children at Brookside Community Health Center in Jamaica Plain.
The students at Sudbury Public Schools collected 20 boxes of books and researched Reach Out and Read locations before delivering the books to the Framingham Community Health Center.
|
|
|
