Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Danelle E. Marable, MA¹, Dianne McLaughlin², Chianta Mack², Rita Olans³, Suzanne Pregot⁴, and Elizabeth Miller, MD, PhD⁵. (1) Community Benefit Program/Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital, 50 Staniford St Fl 9, Boston, MA 02474, 617-724-6857, dmarable@partners.org, (2) Healthy Families Program, Roca, Inc., 101 Park Street, Chelsea, MA 02150, (3) School Based Health Center, MGH Revere, 300 Ocean Ave, Revere, MA 02151, (4) Mental Health, MGH Revere, 300 Ocean Ave, Revere, MA 02151, (5) Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation, Massachusetts General Hospital, 50 Staniford St., 9th Floor, Boston, MA 02114

Background: Pregnant and parenting youth need intensive, specialized services to support them to become healthy, productive, and valued members of a community. Methods: Through the Circle of Care (COC) project, Roca, a community based youth development organization, and the Massachusetts General Hospital provide comprehensive, holistic, and coordinated care for pregnant and parenting adolescents in Revere and Chelsea – two urban, underserved communities located outside of Boston. COC aims to reduce repeat unwanted pregnancies, promote optimum health for babies and parents, and reduce stress associated with pregnancy and parenting. Services include home visiting, parenting skills building, communication circles, education support, employment training and placement, and referrals to other services. Medical and mental health services are offered at community and school-based adolescent clinics easily accessible to youth. The COC project also emphasizes intensive outreach to primary fathers and/or partners of the pregnant and parenting mother as well as their families. An advisory board comprised of clinicians, mental health workers, youth workers, community leaders, and evaluators manages COC. Results/Findings to Date: During the first year of the project, the process evaluation has indicated a great need for coordination of services in these communities, with enthusiasm among youth, clinicians, and youth workers for improving linkages between clinical and community-based services. as well as a need for more youth development oriented programming. A detailed outcomes evaluation has been developed with youth involvement in order to measure the project's goals to reduce repeat pregnancies and increase the educational attainment of this population.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe a holistic, coordinated approach to providing support and services to pregnant and parenting teens, their partners, and their families.
• Identify the array of specialized services needed to address and reduce the various stressors associated with this population.
• Describe the work necessary to create successful collaboration between a youth development organization and adolescent health care clinics.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered