Research Summaries
This section details how WARN worked with child care centers from the beginning of the program to the present.
Child Care Center Survey
In year one, WARN conducted a baseline random-sample survey of over 500 family and group child care centers to learn about exclusion policies, how centers care for children with mild upper respiratory illness, and what educational programming would be useful for staff and parents.
Survey results:
- 40% of family centers and 20% of group centers require an antibiotic for children with upper respiratory infections (URI) or ear infections before returning to day care
- 98% of group and family centers have written policies for sick children
- Most day care employees feel comfortable with evaluating illness
- On-site education was preferred with a focus on infection control issues
Child Care Educational Sessions
Based on the high interest shown by child care centers for educational programming, WARN created a short PowerPoint presentation and proceeded to travel around the state offering one-hour educational sessions for staff and parents at child care centers.
Overall, WARN traveled to approximately 170 child care centers in Wisconsin, reaching over 3,500 staff members. Participants received one continuing education credit hour for attending, and each child care center director received a packet of WARN materials including a copy of Wisconsin's exclusion guidelines from the Division of Public Health.
Studying the Impact of Child Care Educational Sessions
The on-site presentations on appropriate antibiotic use and infection control were well received. However, attendance by parents was very low and opportunities to reach parents directly in other ways were limited. Therefore, WARN initiated an educational intervention for child care providers, based on the expectation that child care providers would disseminate information and materials to parents.
To assess the impact of this intervention, WARN conducted a controlled, group-randomized study in licensed centers. The primary objectives of the study were to determine whether child care providers pass along information and materials to parents following a presentation on appropriate antibiotic use, and whether on-site presentations to child care providers lead to improved knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs regarding appropriate antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance.
The data have been compiled and the results of this study will be published soon.
Other Ways to Reach Child Care Providers
A newsletter article was developed for child care publications and was distributed to all Wisconsin child care associations and child care resource and referral agencies. There was a high level of interest in the topic and willingness to include the article in industry newsletters.
Download the newsletter article as a Word document.
The following is a list of WARN interventions to reach parents of young children:
- Provided educational sessions at group child care centers across the state
- Networked with Wisconsin technical colleges and universities specializing in early childhood education
- Presented information at the annual Wisconsin Early Childhood Association (WECA) conference
- Mailed educational materials to all group and family child care centers on a yearly basis
- Worked with the Wisconsin Resource and Referral Network
- Worked with the State Regulation and Licensing Bureau to provide continuing education credits for WARN presentations at child care centers
