Early Literacy Promotion: Increasing Parental Reading Frequency To Improve Developmental Outcomes

Abstract

Background: Early childhood communication and language literacy are crucial aspects of children's communication development. Children who are read to regularly from a young age are more likely to meet their developmental milestones. Despite this, many parents do not read to their children frequently enough. Purpose: The purpose of this DNP quality improvement (QI) project was to increase the number of days parents are reading per week to their children aged two weeks to two years to improve communication development in children, as well as improve parent attitudes towards reading with their children. The results were intended to improve outcomes at Maricopa County Nurse Family Partnership only, with no intent to apply the findings more broadly. Methods: During home visits with Maricopa County Nurse Family Partnership nurses, parents with children aged 2 weeks to 2 years will be provided with an educational activity and an age-appropriate book. They will then complete a post/pretest that will evaluate shared reading frequency before the intervention and intended shared reading frequency, parent confidence, perceived benefit of educational activity, and knowledge regarding shared reading with their child. Results: Twenty-six of thirty-three parents, or 79%, participated in this quality improvement project. Data analysis identified a statistically significant improvement in shared reading frequency per week. Additionally, data support increased parents’ confidence and knowledge regarding shared reading with their child. Conclusions: The educational intervention improved shared reading time and increased parent confidence and knowledge regarding shared reading with their child.