Small Business Innovations Research Grant
Phase I Feasibility Study
Overview
AIMS
Through this pilot study, we wanted to:
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Background
Purpose of Study
Significance
Community Advisory Board
SBIR- What is it?
TWS Research Team
Susan Auger, MSW
Principal Investigator
Auger Communications, Inc.,
Durham, NC
Sarah Verbiest, DrPH, MSW, MPH
Co-Principal Investigator
UNC Center for Maternal & Infant Health
Chapel Hill, NC
Co-Investigators
Beth Bordeaux, MSW
GTM Evaluation & Planning Consultants
Apex, NC
Holly Ewell Lewis, MBA
The Ewell Group
Durham, NC
Research Consultants
Diane Berry, PhD, CANP
UNC School of Nursing
Chapel Hill, NC
Melida Colindres, MPH
Inter-Am English & Spanish Communications
Chapel Hill, NC
Pilot Study Results
For an overview of the survey findings, click on article: Improving Prenatal Care for Hispanic Mothers: Health Professional Perspectives. Published in Streamline the Migrant Clinicians Network Newsletter
(July/August 2009)
Contact us to be notified when other journal articles are published.
Additional Funding Support
We'd like to thank the Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding University for their support of this research. Susan Auger was awarded a doctoral student scholarship in January, 2009.
- Knowledge that blends multidisciplinary theory and professional practice.
- Action that leads to sustaining positive social change.
- Collaboration that builds more effective organizations.
Teach-With-Stories: Lay Educator Prenatal Outreach Program for Hispanics
(Grant No. 1R43MD002713-01)
BACKGROUND back to top SIGNIFICANCE An empowerment-based lay educator model designed to address system and provider needs unique to prenatal care could help generate cost-savings to the health care system, improve quality of care, and address the multiple needs of this growing population.
Currently at 11 million, the number of Hispanic women in their childbearing years is projected to increase exponentially over the next several decades. The central role women have in Hispanic culture with respect to the health of their families, along with their high fertility rates, make reaching and engaging Hispanic women a critical strategy in efforts to reduce disparities and improve health outcomes for adults and children in these communities.
Quality prenatal care is designed to promote health and reduce risks for women, infants, and families before, during, and after pregnancy. This care is often the first introduction Hispanic families have to the American medical system and is also a place where disparities in care begin. Developing the healthcare system's capacity to provide quality, linguistically and culturally appropriate prenatal education and care is critical.
PURPOSE OF STUDY
This exploratory study will determine the feasibility of developing a culture-centered prenatal education program for Hispanic women facilitated by lay health educators.
The program is based on the Teach-With-Stories (TWS) Method™ developed for empowerment-based group education used in conjunction with the De Madre a Madre/From Mother to Mother photonovels. These are an existing series of easy-to-read, bilingual, culturally appropriate photo-stories designed for prenatal education and literacy instruction.
Understanding the concerns, needs, beliefs, and perceptions of administrators and health professionals working in prenatal care programs is essential for designing a lay health educator prenatal education program that will be adopted into practice. The TWS study was designed to also help determine possible strategies to make the TWS prenatal education groups cost-effective and efficient to implement.
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Positive, culturally sensitive experiences in prenatal care can have a long-term impact on the use of healthcare services by Hispanic women and their families.
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