Parenting Newsletter Project

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Parenting Newsletter Project

Your name here University of Wisconsin-Extension
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Three Parenting Newsletter Series

• Parenting the First Year (PFY)
• Parenting the 2nd and 3rd Years (PSTY)
• Preparing to Parent (P2P)

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Newsletter Features

• 8-page issues
• Age-paced
• Reach socially isolated families
• Can be shared with others
• Free for parents
• Easy to read and understand
• Available in Spanish edition

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How did the newsletter project get started?

• Two extension agents from N. Wisconsin produced
  the first version of PFY in 1982.
• In 1988 an entirely new edition was written by
  Dave Riley Dori Schatell.
• Kiwanis seeking a project for major service
  effort helped jumpstart distribution

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Local partnerships have included

• 70 county extension offices
• 165 Kiwanis Clubs
• 77 maternity hospitals
• 22 city or county health departments
• 49 other partners

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How Many Households Do the Newsletters Reach?

• Parenting the First Year newsletters reach 35,000
  Wisconsin families each year.
• About half of the families giving birth in
  Wisconsin each year (70,000).
• Another 22,000 Wisconsin families receive
  Parenting the 2nd and 3rd Years each year.

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Goals of the Parenting Newsletter Project

• To encourage competent parenting
• To enhance early childhood development
• To address threats to early brain development
• -chemical exposure
• -undiagnosed vision / hearing problems
• -inadequate nutrition
• To prevent abusive parenting

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Do the newsletters accomplish these goals?

• Parents report positive changes in their
  parenting
• Talk more with their babies and toddlers
• Provide more things to enhance development
• Start toddlers doing simple chores
• Set rules and limits with their children
• Provide safer home environments

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Do the newsletters accomplish these goals?

• In a field experiment, 550 parents who received
  the Parenting the First Year
• had attitudes significantly less like those of
  child abusing parents
• reported slapping or spanking their babies fewer
  times in the previous week

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What have parents said?

• I probably wouldnt have talked to my child when
  he was an infant if I hadnt read these
  newsletters. Richland County parent
• The newsletters have been a big help in
  controlling my frustration when the baby cries
  for hours on end! Thank you. Grant County
  parent
• The newsletter helped me to be more responsive
  to my baby, because I found out that the games we
  play and the things we do are not just fun, but
  also helpful in my babys development.
• La Crosse County parent

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What have parents said?

• We have all the books on parenting. Nothing
  has been as helpful as this newsletter. Wood
  County parent
• The newsletters have been very useful to me
  because I have no friends with children and very
  little input. It helps me know what to expect
  and what is normal behavior. Dane County parent
• We love the newsletter! Weve copied them all
  and passed them on to sisters and brothers having
  babies whose cities dont do anything like this
  for them. Fond du Lac County parent

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Evolution of the Parenting Newsletter Project

• Spanish version of PFY
• English and Spanish versions of PSTY
• Info Source
• Website, about 60 read on line each day
• 15 other states, 2 other countries
• Parenting Future Readers Parenting Your Unique
  Child
• NEW! Preparing to Parent newsletter series

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What is Preparing to Parent?

• 4 Issue Set of 16-page Prenatal Newsletters
• Prequel Series to Parenting the First Year
• One Issue for Each Trimester, and the Time Around
  Birth
• Written by UW-professors, with advisory panel
  that included health care professionals

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Why a Prenatal Newsletter Series?

• Need for earlier intervention
• Reinforces Advice of Health Care Providers
• Helps Parents Remember Advice
• Answers Questions Not Discussed at Clinic Visits
• Can Be Shared With Social Network

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Examples of Topics That Require Early Intervention

• Alcohol and Tobacco Use
• Prenatal Nutrition and Vitamins
• Avoidance of Environmental Toxins
• Use of Regular Prenatal Care
• Decision to Breastfeed

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Developed by University of Wisconsin-Extension
for 3 Goals

• To Help Expectant Parents Have a Healthy
  Pregnancy and Baby
• To Promote Competent Parenting
• To Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect

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Distributing P2P

• Distribute by hand to expectant parents at
  prenatal visits
• Partner with local Extension office
• Advantages for partners (lower cost, help with
  evaluation)

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Options for Obtaining P2P Newsletters

• Purchase standard newsletters from Extension
  Publications
• Purchase license print localized versions (with
  your logo, contact info.)
• Have a printer make copies
• Print from a CD on your office computer
• Print from a secure website

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Evaluation

• Data collected by self-report questionnaires
  given to new parents at first postnatal visit
• Data entry completed at Extension office
• Each clinic will receive an Evaluation Report
• Power point presentation on results, press
  release series available