Reach Out and Read: a pediatric clinic-based approach to early literacy promotion

Approximately 90 million adults in the United States read at a level that limits their ability to function as full members of society or limits their ability to meet their basic needs. Reading success as an adult is related to early literacy experiences. Reading aloud by parents is the single most critical factor in a child's reading success later in life. Children in households where there is little exposure to reading are at risk for reading failure even before entering school. As primary health care providers, pediatric nurse practitioners are in a unique position to affect and encourage parental behaviors that foster early literacy development in children. Literacy should become incorporated as an integral component of health promotion for children. Reach Out and Read is a successful literacy program in the United States that can be easily adopted by pediatric nurse practitioners in primary care settings.