Early Language Promotion Through Public Libraries
Project Year
2024
City & State
Denver, Colorado
Program Name
CATCH Implementation
Topic
Child Development/Developmental delay
Program Description
THE PROBLEM: The first three years of a child’s life constitute the most critical and rapid period for brain growth and development, and children struggle to catch-up from language deficits that occur during this crucial time (1). Early language ability is intrinsically related to social-emotional development and is important for behavioral and attentional self-regulation (2). Children with language impairments are at higher risk for emotional and behavioral problems as well as attention and learning disorders (2,3). These early language deficits, therefore, contribute to critical disparities in school readiness and future academic achievement (4). PRIMARY SETTING: Public libraries have been identified as an underused community support that pediatricians should be promoting as a way to improve school readiness (4). Libraries continue to be one of the most trusted sources of information that serve as important gathering places to empower communities (5). For these reasons, we are partnering with the Denver Public Library (DPL) system. All activities will be conducted within DPL programs, especially locations identified in low-income settings. NUMBER OF CHILDREN AFFECTED: Far too many children enter kindergarten with critical developmental and school readiness deficits, including in Colorado (6). As part of this project, we aim for at least 300 families to receive PUPPETalk, with the ultimate goal of widespread dissemination reaching thousands of families through DPL. PROJECT GOAL: Studies have shown that increasing home exposure to positive parenting behaviors improves children’s early language experience, leading to better developmental outcomes (7-9). Verbally-rich parent-child interactions beginning in early infancy build a critical foundation that supports future engagement in more advanced communication and long-term language learning trajectories (10-12). Supporting the early home language environment by promoting positive parent-child interactions could help children reach their developmental potential and address devastating disparities related to language development and school readiness (1,13,14). Our goal for this project is to develop a partnership with DPL that promotes the early home language environment through public libraries, especially for children at-risk of experiencing developmental delays. PROPOSED INTERVENTION: I developed PUPPETalk (PUppets to Play, Praise, Educate, and Talk) as an exceedingly simple, low-cost intervention that uses finger puppets to support positive, language-rich caregiver-infant interactions promoting language development and early relational health. The PUPPETalk intervention includes finger puppets and an accompanying activity handout, available in 12 languages, with 10 suggested activities that families can do with the puppet. These activities have each been made into a brief family video demonstration in both English and Spanish. For this grant, we further propose creating a website that would allow these videos to be accessible to families by QR code on the activity handout, promoting the dissemination and sustainability of our materials. PUPPETalk serves as a vehicle for professionals to introduce the importance of early talking and to facilitate caregiver-infant interactions, while the actual intervention is the caregiver’s subsequent communications to the child that take place long after the puppet has been provided. Findings from two primary care studies have been encouraging, suggesting that families receiving PUPPETalk had better outcomes related to maternal postpartum depression (15), the cognitive home environment (16), and early language development (17,18) during the first year of life as well as improved social-emotional developmental trajectories (19) to age three years. ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES: While further research is underway in the medical setting, we now aim to explore the feasibility and acceptability of disseminating PUPPETalk in the community setting through an exciting partnership with DPL. Outcomes, as further described in this application, will focus on reach and adoption measures to assess the number of libraries and families participating in the intervention as well as usage, satisfaction, and feedback through family and librarian surveys.
Project Goal
Promote the early home language environment in diverse, underserved Denver communities by implementing and disseminating PUPPETalk, a simple and low-cost intervention to support positive, language-rich caregiver-infant interactions, through a new partnership with Denver Public Libraries (DPL).
Project Objective 1
During the planning phase (first half of the grant period), we will develop a partnership with DPL through monthly meetings with DPL staff occurring for the duration of the 12-month grant period (i.e., at least 12 meetings). We will identify up to 5 DPL programs and locations with the greatest reach for underserved families with pregnant moms or infants, such as the Baby Storytime program. We will create and pilot a website with program materials and train at least 10 DPL librarians to implement PUPPETalk in the identified programs/locations.
Project Objective 2
During the implementation phase (second half of the grant period), DPL librarians will distribute PUPPETalk to at least 300 DPL families with pregnant moms or infants under 6 months of age. Librarians will track the number of families reached by each program/location.
Project Objective 3
During the evaluation phase (second half of the grant period), we will obtain feedback survey results from at least 100 DPL families who received PUPPETalk and 10 librarians who implemented PUPPETalk, with at least 80% of participants expressing high usage and satisfaction with the program. Survey results will inform a DPL PUPPETalk Dissemination and Implementation Toolkit that will be created at the end of the grant period.
AAP District
District VIII
Institutional Name
Denver Public Library
Contact 1
Gretchen Domek, MD, Mphil
Contact 2
Mariarosa Gasbarro, MA
Last Updated
04/15/2024
Source
American Academy of Pediatrics