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Over the organization鈥檚 30 years, Reach Out and Read (ROR) has become known for giving out books in pediatricians鈥� offices, but according to Dr. Dipesh Navsaria, if you focus just on the books, you鈥檙e missing the point.

鈥淏ooks are the most visible part of our program,鈥� says Navsaria, vice chair of the board and medical director, ROR Wisconsin. 鈥淏ut a book on its own won鈥檛 do much.鈥�

In the right hands, a book is more than a book. When he sees a young patient in a clinic, Navsaria says that if he had to choose, he鈥檇 rather have a book in his hand than a stethoscope around his neck. 鈥淲hen I present a child with a book,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚 can watch how she accepts it from me, whether she knows what do with it and how her parent might use it as a route for interaction. As a doctor doing a checkup, all that data is more important to me than heart rate.鈥�

In a , he describes one clinical visit that exemplifies the power of the ROR model:

The patient that day was a 6-month-old infant with what we ultimately diagnosed as a common cold. However, when a medical student and I walked into the room, we gave a gently used book to the 4-year-old brother of the patient, who was not being seen that day. As we proceeded with the visit, I observed the brother sitting there with the book upside down, backwards, and closed for the entire time鈥� When we walked out of the room, I asked the medical student who he was most worried about in the room. 鈥淭he baby?鈥� he asked. I shook my head鈥攊t was the brother, because I was concerned about his preparation for kindergarten鈥�. When we went back in to finish the visit, I enquired gently about reading together at home. The mother鈥檚 response was interesting: 鈥淪ee? Even the doctor is telling you to read!鈥�

Another good thing about books, according to Navsaria, is they don鈥檛 have batteries. He has seen various trendy technologies come and go, starting with Baby Einstein videos that promised to make kids smart until Disney was to drop the word educational from its marketing and to refund purchases. The latest wave of educational apps should elicit skepticism, he warns, saying, 鈥淭here is no app to replace your lap.鈥� (Anyone else think this should be a bumper sticker?)

Navsaria, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, became involved with ROR even before attending medical school. While studying biology and English literature at Boston University in the early 1990s, he worked at Boston City Hospital and witnessed the power of the model.

鈥淐linicians are often overworked, and they are sometimes treating patients from communities that face many challenges,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淭here is always pressure to see everyone, to move faster, but Reach Out and Read allowed us to slow down and 辞产蝉别谤惫别鈥�setting aside a checklist or a template.鈥� Ironically, 鈥渁dding鈥� ROR enables pediatricians to do their jobs more efficiently.

鈥淚t reminds them why they went into this field,鈥� Navsaria affirms.

Today, ROR operates in all 50 states and serves 4.5 million children. Despite a steady stream of requests to expand into other settings, ROR works exclusively with primary care clinics. The doctor鈥檚 office,聽 Navsaria says, is a unique site of trust. Low-income families are generally reliable about health check-ups, offering an opportunity to connect with them.

Navsaria coauthored a that confirms his initial impressions and his personal experience, finding that ROR 鈥渂oosted clinic morale, increased provider satisfaction, improved patient-clinician relationships and promoted a literacy-rich environment鈥濃�攃ompared to clinics that don鈥檛. Merely handing out books without formal training and parent coaching doesn鈥檛 seem as effective either.

The COVID-19 pandemic challenged ROR to pivot to virtual settings, and Navsaria maintains all of the elements that drive the in-person program鈥攚ith the added benefit of allowing pediatricians to see home environments.

The wave of consciousness about racial inequity that began last summer has also challenged ROR, prompting the organization to acknowledge the burden of racism that Black families face and to incorporate equity into its practices. (In November 2020, the American Medical Association finally .)

Language. Literacy. Love. Those are the three words that capture ROR鈥檚 approach before, during and after the pandemic. Navsaria鈥檚 鈥攃o-authored with the organization鈥檚 medical director, Dr. Peri Klass鈥攑uts it this way: 鈥淔raming reading aloud and book sharing as a way parents show love to their children speaks to the science of reading aloud to children and to the emotional and relational benefits that scaffold parent identity and self-efficacy.鈥�

Simply put, reading aloud is good for you. Early literacy goals matter, but there is much more inside the book and the act of shared reading. Bonding between parent and child, building the muscles of memory and cognition, enhancing attention and imagination all enter the picture when the child climbs into your lap and opens a book.

鈥淧别辞辫濒别 think our program is about books,鈥� Navsaria smiles. 鈥淏ut secretly, it鈥檚 also parenting support.鈥�

This story originally published on Early Learning Nation and is now archived on 蜜桃影视. Learn more here.