Doctors write prescription to read

Book program eases pediatric patient anxieties

When children at Boston Medical Center arrive at the pediatric clinic, doctors prescribe a book for them to read as well as a medical treatment for what ails them.

Over the past eight years, doctors at the inner-city hospital have prescribed 150,000 children’s books for their young patients as part of the hospital’s Reach Out and Read program. The program has spread to 80 clinics in 34 states, and earlier this year was named by President Clinton as the model for a national child development initiative.

The program began in 1989 when doctors at the clinic began bringing in books for children to read while waiting to be examined. Some of the children took the books home.

Now, children as young as 6 months get a new book to keep after clinic visits. By the time a child is in kindergarten, he or she will have received at least 10 books.

The program is based on the premise that literacy is as important to a child’s healthy development as immunization and good nutrition. Doctors want to stimulate a love of reading and encourage a parent and child to spend quality time together.

The doctor writes out a "prescription for reading," telling the parent how often to read with the child and for how long.

Grants and donations fund the program. These are the only books some children have. The hospital serves a large number of inner-city families, some of whom can’t afford new books. Some parents can’t read English, so the hospital provides bilingual books.