IWK Health awarded $300K literacy grant

Published: October 24, 2008 1:58 a.m.

Last modified: October 24, 2008 2:03 a.m.

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A research team based at the IWK Health Centre has won a $300,000 grant to study whether hospital literacy programs offered to the families of newborns help kids’ literacy when they’re school age.

Researchers from St. Francis Xavier University, Dalhousie, UNB and UPEI, led by the IWK’s Dr. Cyndi Brannen, will study whether provincial newborn literacy programs offered in the Maritimes help improve literacy rates. In a news release, Brannen said many areas in the Maritimes have lower-than-average literacy rates. The team believes parents can improve their own literacy by reading to their children, which in turn improves their job prospects and their health.

Researchers will do phone interviews across the region. Parents of children up to three years old may be called, starting in January 2009.