Since 1982, the Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) Program has improved family health and early child development for more than 9000 low income families in the Southeast. Through home visits and parenting groups, MIHOW's paraprofessional outreach workers promote healthy lifestyles among socially and geographically isolated pregnant women and families with young children. The MIHOW approach includes listening attentively to parents' concerns, tailoring teaching about nutrition, health and child development to the needs of individual families, modeling effective parenting, and linking families with local medical and social services. MIHOW is a partnership between 23 community service agencies and the Vanderbilt University Center for Health Services(CHS), with CHS providing assistance in developing, implementing and evaluating the MIHOW services. There currently are MIHOW sites in Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia and Mississippi. With the steady growth in the number of MIHOW sites over the past few years, the MIHOW Standards of Practice were developed to strengthen the quality and consistency of services. The standards provide a flexible, yet sound alternative to certification for outreach workers and the sponsoring agencies. This presentation will provide an overview of 1) the outreach worker standards, 2) the four levels of achievement for outreach workers, 3) the process for measuring the standards, and 4) the award system for recognizing sites that have achieved the standards. In addition, the MIHOW Evaluation System and Home Visit Guides, which facilitate implementation of the standards, will be highlighted.
Learning Objectives: N/A
Keywords: Standards, Home Visiting
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker Program
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: employer