On Wednesday, St. Louis will get a progress report on local participation in the National Children’s Study.
The study – which is currently in a pilot phase – will examine how environmental factors affect the health and development of more than a 100,000 children nationwide, by tracking them from before birth to age 21.
Local study leader, epidemiologist Louise Flick of Saint Louis University, says since last December, between 100 and 150 women in St. Louis have signed up to have their children participate.
Flick says women who live in St. Louis can still join the pilot study.
“Any woman who wants to find out if she’s eligible and would like to participate can call us,” Flick said. “But they need to be either pregnant or planning to get pregnant, and they have to live in one of the 15 small geographic areas in the City that have been selected for recruiting.”
Flick says St. Louis has been participating in a pilot phase of the study, testing door-to-door recruitment methods.
She says that at Wednesday’s meeting, she’ll be looking for input on how to inform people about the study and increase participation.
“How we engage the community, prepare the community, inform people ahead of time so that we’re not catching them cold when we ask if they’re interested in participating,” Flick said.
The community meeting will take place from 4 to 6:30 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 2 at Il Monastero, 3050 Olive St. in St. Louis.
