Reach Out and Read Wisconsin

Reach Out and Read (ROR) Wisconsin is the state affiliate of the national organization that gives young children a foundation for success by incorporating books into pediatric care and encouraging families to read aloud together. ROR is implemented during well-child visits with children birth through age 5 and their parents. Medical providers are trusted advisers to families and have been shown to positively influence parental behavior.

According to Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, Medical Director of ROR Wisconsin, “Reach Out and Read allows us to take the trusted, skilled, caring, and highly-trained messengers already present in most communities — primary care clinicians — and train and support them in being able to connect with families during children’s regular checkups around sharing books together. People often think we’re a book giveaway program, but we’re secretly an evidence-based, high-quality, cost-efficient parenting support program."

Parents who participate in ROR are two and a half more times likely to make reading aloud part of their child’s daily routine. Children who participate in ROR start kindergarten with language and vocabulary skills three to six months ahead of their peers. Recent research also tells us that the act of sharing books together strengthens the parent-child relationship, supports the socio-emotional development of the child and decreases parental stress.

ROR reported to the PDG team that they have kept busy developing resources to ensure that children

• Keep up with well child visits, where they receive immunizations and books, and
• Use telehealth visits to promote literacy

2020 PDG funds were used for:

• ROR staff time for administering quality assurance and technical assistance
• A ROR customer satisfaction survey to more than 260 participating clinics
• Purchasing books for qualifying clinics, particularly those that serve a significantly low-income population
• Training of medical providers and other clinic staff
• Sustainability planning for the Wisconsin chapter of ROR

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