The relationship between a medical provider and the family is the key to the Reach Out and Read (ROR) intervention. They have repeated one-on-one contact with families during the critical first years of a child’s life and use books and anticipatory guidance as a valuable tool to assess developmental milestones, to talk to parents about what’s happening in their life and the benefits of reading aloud to their young children. ROR engages the trusted voice of the provider to help them connect with the whole family to support and build strengths and skills in parents to have healthy families and strong communities.

We recognize the demands of Reach Out and Read Carolinas’ providers and have heard from our network of medical providers that involvement with Reach Out and Read Carolinas, both in and out of clinic, can provide a buffer to feeling overwhelmed and burned out. Bringing a book into a patient encounter and sharing it with a child can help providers refocus with every patient visit and ground them in the work to help children grow and thrive.

As a two-generation evidence-based intervention, ROR helps create positive daily experiences as providers engage parents, encourage positive changes in parental behavior, promote family bonding and support healthy social and emotional parent-child relationships, preparing children to develop stable future relationships and achieve their potential in school and beyond.

Reach Out and Read Carolinas values the partnership with medical providers across our region and prioritize supporting our provider network. We know that ROR can be a bright spot for providers, creating positive experiences to help relieves stress, therefore increasing enjoyment during the workday.

“After modeling reading to a child with a parent present, nothing warms my heart more during a well-child visit than hearing a parent start to read their new book to their child as I’m leaving the room.” Dr. Michael Foxworth, II, Florence, SC.

Please check out one of our newest online courses, Positive Experiences & Bright Spots.