FEATURE It Takes Two, Baby Thanks to a novel partnership, a Wallowa County clinic embraces early learning and literacy By Liz Powers, MD AT MY FRONTIER COMMUNITY health center in northeast Oregon’s Wallowa County, options for waiting room reading material extend far beyond a few outdated magazines. Young children and their families browse through the clinic’s lending library. During their visit, they’ll connect with the resources of a home visitation program, and at the end of the appointment, each child departs with a free book. “As with most things in Wallowa County, our collaboration began with a friendship,” says Maria Weer, executive director of Building Healthy Families, a local nonprofit. “Liz needed some books in Spanish for a family, and she knew that we ran a reading program and that I had access to books.” For my part, I first heard about the Reach Out and Read program ten years ago at a national conference. As a family physician and the CEO of the Winding Waters Clinic in Enterprise, I knew that this would be a great addition to my practice. But with the pressures of full-time patient care, the process of signing up for and managing the program was too daunting. It took my collaboration with Weer, which began in 2011, to transform how my practice can prepare kids for success in school and in life. “We wrapped our brains around how we could encourage early literacy and positive parenting,” says Weer, whose organization leads the local grade-level reading campaign. This focus is really important to me as a physician, as we know that social factors such as low literacy levels correlate with poor health outcomes. We see the consequences of low literacy not just in grade school, but beyond. The ABCs Our unusual (and unusually effective!) partnership, which began with a simple conversation at Weer’s kitchen table as our children played, benefits both organizations—as well as the kids we serve. The two staffs are co-located, allowing BHF to administer developmental and social-emotional screenings and to alert clinic staff when a child might benefit from more support at home. In addition, being able to bring BHF staff support into the exam room is huge. That warm handoff, physically shaking the hand of a BHF staffer, often makes the difference in whether or not people actually connect with services. When kids aren’t meeting developmental milestones, Weer and her staff are there for follow-through. Winding Waters has integrated parent education and early literacy into practicewide systems, but some medical practices fear adding administrative burden. “These things can happen without cutting into visit or staff time, with some problem solving,” Weer counters, noting how my In April, the partnership of Powers (left) and Weer earned the 2016 Alexander Award from the Children’s Institute. The award honors efforts to ensure children have a strong start and the necessary support. 18 Medicine in Oregon www.theOMA.org
OMA Medicine in OR Spring 2016
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