BACK TO BASICS Pediatric offices use The Basics to help families and children

BACK TO BASICS

PEDIATRIC OFFICES USE THE BASICS TO HELP FAMILIES AND CHILDREN

BY Reggie Dogan

STUDER COMMUNITY INSTITUTE

Studer Community Institute partnership with two top pediatric practices in the area is creating the opportunity to reach the families of more than 22,000 children from the age of birth to 5 years old.

SCI works to implement and spread projects to help every child in our community have a good chance for a great start at being ready for kindergarten.

In Escambia County, only 42% of children are kindergarten ready. That means meeting families where they are and sharing tools to help parents talk and interact more with their children as part of a recipe to fuel healthy brain development is a key component of school readiness.

Pensacola Pediatrics and Community Health Northwest Florida have joined SCI’s Basics Pensacola network. They will offer The Basics video lessons — and the chance to sign up for Basics Insights text messages — to their families.

Dr. Carol Andrews of Pensacola Pediatrics said “we strive to empower parents to provide opportunities for every child to thrive.

“This partnership with SCI to provide research-based tools and education to our families is an exciting opportunity to make that impact broader and more meaningful in their everyday lives.”

The 16 doctors in the Pensacola Pediatrics group will use The Basics video lessons — and offer the chance to sign up for Basics Insights text messages — with the families who use one of the practice’s six locations for the healthcare of their children. Pensacola Pediatrics sees 12,800 children between the ages of birth to 5 years old, each year.

At Community Health, Dr. Michelle Grier-Hall rolled out The Basics at Community Health’s Airport Pediatrics location. In her role as director of pediatrics for Community Health Northwest Florida, Grier-Hall also helped launch The Basics at Community Health's other 11 pediatric practice locations in 2022. The Community Health team reaches more than 10,000 pediatric patients under the age of 5.

SCI is a local affiliate of the Basics Learning Network, part of the Achievement Gap Initiative founded by Harvard economics professor Dr. Ron Ferguson.

The Basics uses video lessons and a texting service around a curriculum to reach parents where they are and help them learn and use these concepts to boost the time and the quality of the interaction they have with their children.

Insights sends twice-a-week text messages to a parent or caregiver’s phone, based on the child’s age. The first text is a fact or developmentally age-appropriate skill a child may be showing or developing. The second text, sent a day or two later, is a suggestion or activity that reinforces the skill from the first text.

Bringing The Basics video lessons and texting platform to the pediatric space is an important evolution in the work of improving outcomes for children in the community.

“We are excited to partner with the Studer Community Institute by offering The Basics to our pediatric patients here at Community Health Northwest Florida,” said Sandra Donaldson, chief advocacy officer for Community Health Northwest Florida.

She also stated that they “are committed to connecting our patients to our community’s most valuable resources.” And that “SCI shares our greater vision for our community; one that ignites health and prosperity.”

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