PC2090: Provider and Community Partner Perception of the Role of Pediatrician in Kindergarten Preparedness

Background: The objectives of this study were to examine the baseline knowledge and comfort level of pediatric providers about kindergarten preparedness in the Louisville area. Additionally, we examined the baseline attitudes and opinions of community non-profit stakeholders in the Ready for K Alliance about the role of the pediatrician in kindergarten preparedness and compared the two group’s perceptions of the key barriers to kindergarten preparedness.

Methods: Pediatric providers were sent an email invitation to complete a survey of questions about provider attitudes and opinions about the role of the pediatrician in factors impacting kindergarten preparedness, the pediatrician’s perception of their own knowledge of these issues and whether they felt they had the adequate resources needed to address them. In the second arm of this study, the members of the Ready for K Alliance Listserv were sent an email invitation to complete a survey that consisted of questions about attitudes and opinions about the role of the pediatrician in factors impacting kindergarten preparedness. Both groups were asked to rank barriers to kindergarten preparedness in the community.

Results: Survey results were obtained from 16 clinical pediatric providers who have been in practice for an average of 11.3 years, and from 31 community/NGO partners in the Ready for K Alliance. When asked about 12 contributing factors to kindergarten preparedness, providers responded that these things were their Role with a median agreement of 86%, that they had the Knowledge needed to address these same issues with a median agreement of 62%, and that they had the Resources needed to address these same issues with a median of 34.5%. Community partners responded in agreement of the role of pediatric providers in for a variety of factors of kindergarten preparedness for patients in the range 77-97%. When asked if they would like to work more closely with a pediatric care provider in the future, 50% answered ”yes”. The barriers to kindergarten preparedness selected with the most frequency were the same for both groups: Household Instability, Economic Instability, Parental Involvement. Pediatric providers were more likely to select Difficulty navigating school system (38% versus 15%) and Lack of affordable early childhood programming (38% versus 23%). Community partners were more like to select Adverse childhood experiences (36% versus 8%).

Conclusion: Our surveys show that pediatric providers strongly view their role as encompassing kindergarten preparedness, along a variety of contributing factors. Furthermore, the surveyed community partners in the Ready for K Alliance favorably view pediatric provider involvement in almost all ways asked. Key opportunities for future collaboration highlighted by this data are found in the knowledge and resources deficit noted among provider's own self-assessment and the different ways the two groups view barriers to school system navigation and early childhood programming.