YOUNGSTOWN Local Head Start program selected for health study

The study's first phase showed a 48 percent drop in emergency room visits.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Youngstown Area Community Action Council's Head Start program is one of 12 Head Start programs in the nation selected to take part in a two-year pilot study aimed at increasing quality health care for children and reducing child health-care costs.
The study is conducted by Dr. Ariella Herman of the Anderson School at UCLA and funded by Johnson & amp; Johnson.
The study also aims to determine if child health care costs are reduced by giving Head Start parents easy-to-understand health-care information.
YACAC Head Start parents will take part in a three-month assessment using the book "What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick."
Also through the study, Head Start directors participate in a two-week intensive management training session.
Visits drop
The study's first phase, involving four Head Start programs, showed a 37 percent drop in visits to health-care providers and a 48 percent drop in emergency room visits in the six months after training.
Parents reported that they were better able to determine if they could treat children at home; children missed fewer days of school and parents missed less work.