Hill Crest Encourages Reading in Children with “Book It”

Hill Crest Behavioral Health Services, a Psychiatric Solutions, Inc (PSI) facility, has implemented a summer reading program, “Book It,” to encourage children to read for pleasure and reinforce the importance of reading.

Patients in the facility’s child unit will enjoy a summer full of events to promote learning while having fun. As an incentive to read, children will participate in several activities in the community, while reading materials related to that particular activity. Patients are also encouraged to draw pictures and write their own stories related to the recent activities.

For example, prior to visiting a local park, the children will read about parks in their therapy group and then participate in a related activity, such as flying kites. In their next therapy session, the information is reviewed, and they may read a book about kites or explore other arts and crafts.

At the end of each week, all the patients’ community experiences are then summarized and incorporated into a scrapbook. This is one of many programs Hill Crest features to enhance the mental health of its patients.

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