Dr Andrew Arthur, Pediatrician, El Rio Community Health Center
A pediatric and family practice office can be a busy place. The work schedule is usually full most of the year with well-child visits, school physicals, and sick-child visits. The last thing a medical provider is looking for is more work.
Questions I frequently hear from colleagues include:
- So why would a pediatrician be interested in giving out a book to a child during a well-child visit?
- Doesn’t this take time?
This simple answer is, “Yes, it does take time.” And the very small amount of time required adds tremendous value to the visit for both the patient (obvious result) and the medical provider (not so obvious result).
Medical Providers are already speaking with parents about development, including language development. Incorporating a book gift into the visit physically demonstrates to the child and parent that we think reading to a child is important for language development. The book can be used as a tool to see how well a child handles it, turns pages, and to see if they are familiar with the concept of a book. A four year old shouldn’t look at a book as they would a strange new insect that they have never seen before. Lastly, I enjoy bringing the book to the child for purely selfish reasons: it sets the tone of the visit on a positive note, with smiles, and discussions about positive interactions between parents and children. Once a pediatrician has found the joy of incorporating a book with their well child visit, they usually don’t want to go back to not having books.
“What changes in family practices have you observed since the Reach Out and Read program was introduced in your clinic?”
When I first started working at El Rio Health Center, Inc. as a pediatrician in 1992, it was an occasional school-age child who would come to a clinic visit with a book in hand. Since we have been participating in the Reach Out and Read program, books seem to permeate the woodwork here.
Preschool children get books at well child visits. Older preschoolers ask to get a book often when they come in for a well child visit or even a sick child visit. Children of all ages often enter the exam room carrying a book they have obtained from the lobby’s stock of books. Now I come in exam rooms frequently finding parents reading to children or children exploring books on their own.
Use of books has become a productive way for children to spend their waiting time in the clinic. Books have also become a frequent topic of conversation for children of all ages. Books are now a routinely used tool of the El Rio pediatrician. So far, there have been no complaints about this change, only requests for more books when the waiting room supply is running low.
Click here to learn more about Reach Out and Read Southern Arizona.
