For Patients and Families

Reach Out and Read Works!

Research shows that when pediatricians promote literacy according to the Reach Out and Read model, there is a significant effect on parental behavior, beliefs, and attitudes towards reading aloud, as well as improvements in the language scores of young children receiving the intervention.

Since reading aloud is the single most important activity for building success in reading, pediatricians play increasingly active roles in promoting reading skills. They can provide parents of young children with personal coaching and literacy support. They are often the only professionals who have repeated, one-to-one contact with parents during their child's early years. Moreover, parents often turn to pediatricians for advice about the social, emotional, and physical health of their children, giving pediatricians opportunities to teach parents about reading in the context of their child's development.

Reach Out and Read starts children off on a path towards school readiness and a lifelong love of reading.

Articles supporting Reach Out and Read

Weitzman, C.C., et al. More Evidence for Reach Out and Read: A Home-Based Study. Pediatrics, 2004. 113: p. 1248-1253.

Needlman R, Klass P, Zuckerman B: Reach out and get your patients to read, Contemporary Pediatrics, January 2002;19(1)51

The Policy Case for Reach Out and Read

For more information evidence of the effectiveness of Reach Out and Read, please visit www.reachoutandread.org