Edgewood, KY — St. Elizabeth Healthcare is launching a fun and engaging month-long literacy celebration. Officially kicking off on March 2, 2020 – Dr. Seuss’s birthday and the 22nd annual Read Across America Day – St. Elizabeth is excited to offer neonatal intensive care unit patients and their families a meaningful and memorable way to read together. The goal of the program is to focus on family attachment and bonding through daily reading in the NICU.
“Research shows that reading to babies can increase their language skills, boost their vocabulary and enhance their development,” says Ellee Humphrey, Director of Women and Children’s Services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare. “At St. Elizabeth, we’re committed to helping even our tiniest patients learn to love reading.”
St. Elizabeth and Read Across America
St. Elizabeth is making sure that the 2020 Read Across America program will be one for the memory books. NICU patients will receive crocheted Dr. Seuss hats, and babies and their families will enjoy special community celebrities stopping by the NICU for reading sessions.
Each book read to a NICU patient by parents or loved ones will symbolically move a car across a map of the United States, with the goal of crossing the entire country by the end of March.
“We are using the month-long effort to optimize that time when babies are being read to,” says Humphrey. “It’s also another way to promote bonding between parents and babies during their NICU stay.”
Setting the stage for success
The St. Elizabeth NICU team is committed to setting tiny patients up for success in every possible way. Studies show that reading to premature and low-birth-weight babies can strengthen brain development and help bridge a potential language skills gap.
“We offer the highest quality care in the St. Elizabeth NICU, and that includes promoting literacy,” says Humphrey. “Our hope is when our NICU babies are ready to go home with their parents, we’ve given them the best possible start and an early love of reading for the entire family to enjoy together.”
Getting the community involved
St. Elizabeth encourages parents, grandparents and caregivers to take 30 minutes each day to read to the children in their care. Reading together strengthens family bonds and increases reading engagement as the child grows.
Donations are now being accepted for brand-new board books to stock the St. Elizabeth NICU. Each NICU graduate is given a board book when they go home to serve as a building block for a solid literacy future.
To join St. Elizabeth and Read Across America in these efforts, visit stelizabeth.com/read and download a calendar, pick a car, and track your progress on the special Read Across America map. At the end of March, come back and report a final total of books read. St. Elizabeth will use these results to provide an update in April, sharing the impact in our community!