The Brain Game

The Rotary Club of Fort Collins has recently adopted “The Brain Game-Infant and Early Childhood Brain Development Book” that has been produced by The Rotary Club of La Crosse, Wisconsin, through a collaborative project that included the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families.

Scientists have recently discovered how truly important the first three years of a child’s life are in the brain development process. Research has demonstrated that with proper education, parents can greatly enhance their child’s brain development by engaging in specific behaviors such as touching, talking, and reading to their baby. Unfortunately, most current medical research is very technical and difficult for the average new parent to understand. Therefore, there is a strong need to get information out to parents in a format that is accessible, applicable, and easy to understand.

“The Brain Game” is a user-friendly parental resource book on infant and early childhood brain development. The 84-page book breaks down complex brain development research findings into an easy-to-understand guide, which explains to parents why and how their child is learning and developing. Additionally, the book contains specific activities, songs, and suggested behaviors that parents can engage in to help foster their child’s intellectual and social development.

“The Brain Game” is designed for a wide audience of parents ranging from young, first time, mothers to experienced parents. In addition to serving as an educational resource for parents, the book will also serve as a tool to facilitate communication between parents and their pediatrician or nurse practitioner. This book is available in both English and Spanish.

The Rotary Club of Fort Collins has launched a pilot program to distribute this exciting new resource to new parents in our community. In meeting with Poudre Valley Hospital representatives, we find they deliver approximately 2,400 babies each year. Because we do not have the resources to supply that many books, they have suggested we work with the following two programs: The Family Medical Center and Salud Family Health Center.

“The Brain Game” Committee has met with physicians and representatives from both of these organizations. They are very supportive and the physicians will select the mothers who will receive the books. This group will also provide follow-up to us concerning the effectiveness of “The Brain Game”. The committee has provided books in both English and Spanish to both organizations.

The Family Medical Center (FMC) is located two blocks north of Poudre Valley Hospital and is a service provided by Poudre Valley Hospital. FMC offers general medical care for families and people of all ages. Services include obstetrics, pediatrics and geriatric care. The Poudre Valley prenatal programs provide complete care to low-income women in northern Larimer County before, during and after their pregnancy. They accept private and government insurance programs and also provide care for those without insurance.

Salud Family Health Center is located on the north side of Fort Collins and provides healthcare to Larimer County residents who are uninsured or underinsured and to migrant and seasonal workers. Designated as a federally qualified health center, Salud receives federal funding, a special rate for Medicare reimbursement and other benefits. Northside Health Center and the Children’s Clinic became part of Salud in 2002. Poudre Valley Health System felt these two clinics were a better fit for this program under a federally qualified community health center. Salud is next door to the Health District of Northern Larimer County and provides both a family practice and a children’s clinic. Mothers and children receive both pre and post-natal care at the children’s clinic.

Our current goal is to provide 400 books with $ 2,000 from the club and Simplified District Grant of $ 2,000 this year and to fund $4,000 per year there after from the club.

“The Brain Game” Committee is currently co-chaired by Don Unger and Amelia Streigel with members Chuck Rutenberg and Jamie Grim. If you would like to join the committee or have any questions, please contact a committee member.