Effectiveness of a large-scale patient and provider education program to promote preconception health, folic acid awareness and multivitamin use

Background: Half of all pregnancies are unplanned. A variety of data sources suggest that the best time to intervene to support a health pregnancy is before a woman gets pregnant. Up to 70 percent of neural tube defects could be prevented with adequate folic acid intake in the pre- and periconception period. In January 2005, the March of Dimes Florida Chapter and the Florida Department of Health implemented a three-year initiative to advance pre/interconceptional health education and multivitamin use among women of childbearing age. The effort was supported by a 2 million dollar grant from the State Attorney General's office and over 500,000 bottles of vitamins were distributed. Over 250 organizations participated in the project.

Evaluation: This presentation discusses the successes and challenges of implementing a statewide folic acid education and vitamin distribution project monitored by ongoing tracking and evaluation. Partnerships were established with a variety of organizations, some with more success implementing the project than others. Specific process and outcome evaluation discussion will include:

•Description of the implementation process including vitamin distribution, education, tracking, training and use of resources

•Evaluation of types of sites participating and effectiveness of serving the target population

•Descriptive analysis of individual or focus group interviews with staff and/or clients

•Time–series evaluation of behavior change of women receiving education and vitamins by:

age, race and ethnicity

type of organizational environment

supplement history, knowledge of folic acid, birth defects history and experience with and barriers taking the vitamins