Reach Out and Read

Positive, supportive interactions with children may help mitigate the effects of adverse childhood experiences resulting from poverty. Continuing our spotlight series on poverty and early relational health, Dr. Kate Rosenblum, co-Director of Zero to Thrive at the University of Michigan, joins us to talk about how aligning programs like ours can "promote the health and resilience of families from conception to early childhood through research, training and community partnership."

How can families help prepare their children for school when they’re working multiple jobs, or struggling to buy groceries? Reading a book together can seem like a lot when all your energy is focused on meeting the basic needs of your family.  Evidence-based home visiting programs like Parents as Teachers can help with some of these challenges. Jennifer Bronsdon and Emily Callahan of Parents as Teachers at MGH Revere join us to talk about what home visiting is, what it isn't, and how these programs meet families in their reality - at their homes.

There's a significant amount of data on childhood poverty, but the numbers only tell one part of the story. Cristi Carman and Dr. Philip Fisher of Stanford University join us to talk about how to decipher complex data to better understand the experiences, challenges, and resiliency of young children and their families experiencing material hardship.

AAP policy statements are powerful, well-researched, and meticulously-reviewed principles on the state-of-the-art in children's health.  Yesterday, the AAP released their latest Policy Statement: “Literacy Promotion: An Essential Component of Primary Care Pediatric Practice”, and an accompanying extensive Technical Report outlining the substantial supporting research evidence. Drs. Perri Klass and Pamela High, two of the lead authors of the AAP’s statement and report, join us to explain their work, and the recommendations for pediatricians, policy makers, and families.