Provider Training Efforts

The Lens of Emotional Connection 

There are several possible lenses through which to observe a parent/caregiver-child relationship. Most are unidirectional, from parent-to-child (e.g., bonding) or child-to-parent (e.g., attachment). 

But COMBO honed a validated, evidence-based tool with which pediatricians can look through a dyadic lens at the exchange between the parent and child: the bidirectionality, mutuality, mirroring, and reciprocity between them during a face-to-face interaction. Academically referred to as dyadic emotional synchrony, this two-way construct is more commonly called “emotional connection.” 

Together, COMBO and Reach Out and Read developed a training, in partnership with the Stanford d.school, to enable pediatricians to recognize the elements of dyadic emotional synchrony during well-child visits, and layer the observation of emotional connection into their delivery of the Reach Out and Read model of care. They then conducted a successful pilot training, with clinicians effectively learning to apply this lens in just 40 minutes.  

This training holds tremendous potential for scalability. In fact, Reach Out and Read will soon begin implementing it across its clinical network, taking a meaningful step toward integrating relational health into the universal fabric of pediatric care.