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Tracking 9,240 Head Start families enrolled in a health literacyprogram -- and impacting nearly 20,000 children in 35 states -- researchersfound that visits to a hospital ER or clinic dropped by 58 percent and 42percent, respectively, as parents opted to treat their children's fevers,colds and earaches at home. This added up to a potential annual savings toMedicaid of $554 per family in direct costs associated with such visits, orabout $5.1 million annually, according to the UCLA/Johnson & Johnson HealthCare Institute for Head Start, which conducted the study.
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Moreover, parents' being better informed about handling their children'shealth needs translated to a 42 percent drop in the average number of dayslost at work (from 6.7 to 3.8) and 29 percent drop in days children lost atschool (from 13.3 to 9.5). Parents also reported feeling more confident inmaking health care decisions and in sharing knowledge with others in theirfamilies and communities.
Underwritten by Johnson & Johnson, the program carried a one-time cost of$60 per family on average, including pre-visits, hands-on training sessionsand post-training follow up. Using $320 as the average cost for a visit to ahospital's emergency room and $80 for a clinic visit, researchers at UCLAAnderson School of Management, which houses the Institute, estimated thatsavings could reach many millions per year if training were provided for thenearly one million families served by Head Start, many of whom depend onMedicaid. The Institute's 10-year goal is to serve 400,000 Head Startfamilies, reaching approximately half the Head Start agencies in the UnitedStates.
"Head Start parents want to be the first line of defense in theirchildren's health care, and our research leaves no doubt that they can be,once they have the tools to make the best choices," said Ariella Herman,Ph.D., Research Director of the Health Care Institute at UCLA Anderson Schoolof Management and author of the study(1), which builds on the findings of theInstitute's groundbreaking pilot study that was published in 2004.
What to Do at 99.5 Degrees F
Parents were surveyed about their family's health care habits three monthsprior to the training and six months afterward.
At the outset, 60 percent said that they did not have a health book athome to reference when a child fell ill. As part of the study, each HeadStart family was given a low-literacy medical guide, What to Do When YourChild Gets Sick, by Gloria Mayer, R.N., and Ann Kuklierus, R.N., which offersclear information on more than 50 common childhood illnesses. The Health CareInstitute training is adapted to various languages and cultural needs of theparticipating families.
Prior to the training, parents said they were "very confident" aboutcaring for their sick children -- yet, in reality 69 percent reported taking achild to a doctor or clinic at the first sign of illness. Almost 45 percentsaid they would take their child to a clinic or emergency room for a coughrather than provide care at home, with 43 percent doing so for a mildtemperature of 99.5 degrees F.
Post training, researchers found a marked improvement in parents' selfconfidence, with only 32 percent indicating that they would still go first toa doctor or clinic. More significantly, the number of parents using themedical guide as a first source of help jumped from five percent to 48percent, indicating a better understanding and higher comfort level in dealingwith common childhood illnesses.
"The Health Care Institute has provided a creative and practical solutionfor parents, giving them access to essential information and the confidence toadd
