Oregon Health & Science University has been awarded a five-year, $2.6 million federal grant from the National Institutes of Health for a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of OHSU's school readiness program.
The Kinder Coaching Program at OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital is the first early learning program to embed a full spectrum of services within pediatric primary care and to have those services covered by Medicaid.
Preschool is an important place for kids to begin to develop school-readiness skills, but a child's access to preschool in Oregon and across the country is highly dependent on income and geography. OHSU's Kinder Coaching model leverages primary care practitioners and pediatricians as crucial access points for increasing awareness and knowledge about school readiness.
To assess the effectiveness of OHSU's Kinder Coaching Program compared with the standard School Readiness Checklist reviewed by a child's clinician, the research team will conduct a randomized controlled trial with parents of 3- and 4-year-olds in two primary care clinics serving Oregon families with Medicaid coverage. The participating clinics will be community-based, representing both suburban and rural populations.
Data will be collected to analyze efficacy outcomes for the child, encompassing the key school readiness skillsets: social-emotional, self-help, gross and fine motor, cognition and communication. Outcomes for parents will also be analyzed, looking closely at their perceived confidence, resources and barriers.
Importantly, these data will also uncover which components of the program are most important to families, and what could be further optimized.
"I am thrilled that this work is being seen and recognized on a national level," said Jaime Peterson, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of pediatrics in the OHSU of Medicine and director of the Kinder Coaching Program. "Our coaches are amazing and work incredibly hard with families. This study will demonstrate the impact of personal, trusted relationships between families and their OHSU care teams, and how this individualized support can make a life-long difference for a child."
Peterson says the study will provide a proof-point for this program model, which could then be adapted and expanded to be offered throughout the state, serving all children who rely on Medicaid.
Kinder Coaching grew from a pilot project funded by a quality improvement grant from the OHSU Health Integrated Delivery System, or IDS, in 2022. IDS, which coordinates care for Medicaid members across OHSU Health's network, supported the development and testing of the model in pediatric primary care settings. Early results from the pilot helped establish the program's potential and laid the groundwork for the NIH-funded clinical trial.
This research is supported by the National Institutes of Health under Award Number 1R01HD121994-01. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
