The Reach Out and Read (ROR) program at Comer Children's Hospital is an evidence-based program endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. ROR encourages families of young children to read aloud daily together and incorporates books into primary care.
During a well-child visit at our Comer Children's Hospital, UChicago Medicine at Ingalls-Flossmoor or UChicago Medicine Cottage Grove locations, children between 6 months to 5 years and their caregivers are offered a developmentally-appropriate book to read and take home.
This program helps:
- Improve language acquisition.
- Promote healthy brain development.
- Help families build meaningful bonds.
Highlighting the Impact of Reach Out and Read (ROR)
The UCM Department of Pediatrics is a leader amongst peer institutions in addressing child health disparities by supporting ROR. ROR addresses two important metrics (readiness for KG and reading by third grade) and was identified in the AAP 2021 Policy Statement on Preventing Toxic Stress. The program is evidence-based, endorsed by the AAP, and easy to implement. We have distributed approximately 20,000 books to children in our primary care offices.
"2019 National Academy of Medicine report showed that the duration of education is a more important predictor of overall health and long life than either cigarette smoking or obesity." Johnston, R.B.JR. 2019 Poor Education Predicts Poor Health. NAM Perspectives.
- January 2021: Comer ROR was started with a seed grant from the Comer Development Board. Niru Mahidhara, M.D. is established as Medical Director of Comer ROR.
- March 2021: Ingalls Foundation awarded grant to start ROR at Child Life Pediatrics
- January 2022: Comer ROR is featured in Inside the Forefront article
- July 2022: ROR received DOP budget support.
- May 2023: Comer ROR team received a grant from Friend Health to improve the existing Friend Health ROR program which was in decline due to inconsistent funding and lack of leadership. The Friend ROR Program is now run by the ROR Resident Coordinators under supervision of Dr. Mahidhara. Resident involvement in administering Friend Health ROR teaches students and trainees about health disparities and language and literacy promotion in primary care, advocacy and program administration.
- January 2024: Cottage Grove (CG) Clinic receives ICAAP-ROR grant to start a satellite ROR CG program. CG ROR is administered under the leadership of Kathryn Stigliano, M.D.
- October 2024: Comer ROR received grant from Levy Family Foundation.
- November 2024: Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics receives grant from ICAAP-ROR to start a satellite Comer DBP ROR Program.
- December 2024: ROR received a gift from the Greviskes Family.
- January 2025: ROR book distribution is embedded in EPIC after working extensively with the IT Team for more accurate data collection (Dr. Stigliano and Mahidhara)
- Trainees learn about the role of the pediatrician in promoting language and early literacy in primary care clinics at Friend Health and Comer General Pediatrics.
- Trainees learn about the impact of physician advocacy in affecting child health and health policy. ROR is embedded in the Primary Care Lecture Series
- Community Engagement/Advocacy Block (coordinated by Dr. Julia Rosebush) ROR and pediatric interns are partnering with Anthony Douglas, M.D., a UCM surgical resident who researches how poor school performance and negative attitudes about education propel teen and young adult gun violence. Interns volunteer at the Southside YMCA to support a tutoring program and educate families on the importance of establishing a medical home for their children.
- May 2022, 2023, and 2024: Medical students, residents and faculty attend the Annual ICAAP ROR-IL Conference and Fundraiser at the Harold Washington Library. Residents Dr. Bako Orionzi (2022) and Melanie Parziale (2023) participate in a panel discussion.
- January 2024: The Pediatric Interest Group and Pritzker SOM ROR Club hosted our first social event for medical students to meet faculty and residents at The Pub in Ida Noyes. The event was well attended (28 students, 5 residents and 10 faculty) and students had an opportunity to learn about careers in pediatrics. Medical students engaged with primary care faculty and learned about careers in pediatrics including the impact of physician advocacy on child health.
- March 2024: The Pritzker SOM ROR Club assisted in creating a literacy rich waiting rooms for Comer General Peds 4th floor and Cottage Grove clinics by collecting donated books to be taken home by patients and constructing a book donation box.
- August 2024: REMOC Safety Fair featured a ROR table supported by Comer pediatric primary care faculty, residents and students. Volunteers at the fair distributed new books to children, talked to families about the importance of daily reading starting at infancy, and provided literacy resource information available in the Southside Community.
- MS1 and MS2 are offered the opportunity to shadow and see patients in the primary care setting with Dr. Mahidhara through the Pediatric Interest Group (PInG) program.
- Pritzker MS3 Evaluation: “I had a patient who asked for a book as part of the ROR program, and I was so delighted to see that families were as interested/engaged with the program as much as we were. It shows that these initiatives really do have an impact on our patient’s lives, especially in the population of patients we work with at UCM.”
