The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #66649

Martha Boisseau, MPH, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, K-23, Atlanta, GA 30341-3724, 770-488-6266, mrb0@cdc.gov, Loretta Jones, MA, Healthy African American Families, 3856 Martin Luther King Blvd Suite 201, Los Angeles, CA 90008, Neysa Dillon-Brown, MPH, CDC Fellow, 1001 Gardenview Dr. NE, Atlanta, GA 30319, Marsha Broussard, MPH, Health Systems Research & Public Health, 160 Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70112, and Cynthia Ferre, MPH, Division of Reproductive Health, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway, K-23, Atlanta, GA 30341.

Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant death for African-Americans and is significantly associated with lifelong morbidity. The persistent two-fold disparity in preterm delivery incidence between black and white women has been resistant to traditional medical interventions. In collaboration with CDC and the Kellogg Foundation, the Healthy African-American Families (HAAF) project in Los Angeles has been a leader in developing community-driven, community-level interventions to improve health during pregnancy and to reduce preterm delivery incidence. In this work, poor pregnancy outcomes are considered a community and family issue with interventions needed at these levels. This presentation will present an overview of the community process used to develop a multilevel, community-driven communications strategy to promote awareness about preterm delivery. Participants include community members, community-based organizations, local government, health care providers, and national-level advocates. The methodology used focus groups, community meetings, training seminars, and planning sessions. This strategy has 6 components: community partnership; mass media; community education; provider education; community advocacy, and evaluation. Innovative partnerships and creative multilevel intervention strategies in communities can overcome systemic barriers to health promotion, may improve our understanding of how social experiences affect preterm delivery, and may facilitate the reduction of health disparities between populations. This process provides a model that may be useful for other health outcomes and risk exposures.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this presentation, the participant (learner) will be able to:
• Describe the steps necessary for developing a comprehensive risk communications strategy for an African American urban community
• Discuss the structural barriers that must be addressed in the development of a health promotion campaign and how these may be overcome.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.