Each day, emergency rooms, clinics and doctors' offices across the U.S. fill up with anxious parents who bring their children for minor ailments that could be treated at home. Often they wait for hours to see a medical professional. The children miss school, parents lose time at work, and usually, much-needed pay. The overburdened health care system becomes more crowded and taxpayer costs for medical services at the local level and for the federal Medicaid programs escalate sharply. The UCLA/Johnson & Johnson Health Care Institute (HCI), applying health training techniques based on academic research, is helping families and communities nationwide to overcome these dilemmas by addressing a root cause: low health literacy.

Since it began in 2001, HCI has taught nearly 27,000 Head Start families nationwide how to treat everyday childhood illnesses at home, touching more than 50,000 children. At a one-time average cost of $60 per family, the training achieves remarkable results. Researchers at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where the program is housed, have shown:
HCI's 10-year goal is to serve 400,000 Head Start families, reaching approximately half of the Head Start agencies in the U.S., and momentum is building:
The successful model is also being expanded into a program that educates families about healthy nutrition and exercise as important factors in preventing obesity and chronic diseases, such as diabetes.

"The Health Care Institute provides a creative and practical solution for parents, giving them access to essential information and confidence to address their children's basic health care needs," says Sharon D'Agostino, Vice President, Corporate Contributions and Community Relations for Johnson & Johnson. "The impact goes far beyond the trained families, as parents share their knowledge and skills with family members and friends. Empowering parents this way has enabled them to become the first line of defense for their children's health - and has untold benefits for society."