What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick - Vision, Goals and Approach

Vision: All parents will have the knowledge to make appropriate choices about their children's health care for minor illness and injury, resulting in healthier children, better resource utilization and decreased costs.

Goals:
~Professionals working with families understand the impact of low health literacy in health care.
~Professionals use research-based methods to teach parents how to use the book What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick. Outreach efforts to parents of children enrolled in Medicaid and HealthWave will be a priority.
~Parents attend the class, receive the book and then use it to help make appropriate choices about their children's health care.

Approach:
~Professionals attend a workshop on health literacy and teaching methods.
~Professionals teach parents how to use the book in one-on-one, small or large group settings.

What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick - An Overview

Kansas Health Literacy Council endorses the use of What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick. A book that covers the management of more than 50 common illnesses, injuries, and health problems. It is written in an easy-to-read language for parents and caregivers of children from birth to eight years of age. Over 6,000 Kansas parents have been educated on how to use the book effectively, resulting in significant reductions in unnecessary doctor and emergency room visits.

National research* has shown that, when parents are given the book, and trained on its usage, it helps:
~parents manage their children's care
~decrease non-emergent use of the ER,
~decrease the number of days children miss school and parents miss work.

What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick is available in several different languages.

*Kansas Head Start Association, Health Care Institue Results, July 2007