224699 Improving healthcare literacy in Head Start families: Year 1 results of Project HOME (Healthcare Options Made Easy)

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM

Lise Youngblade, PhD , Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Karen Barrett, PhD , Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Francisco Palermo, PhD , Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Ann Bruce, PhD , Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Jonna Pearson, PhD , Department of Journalism & Technical Communication, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Kimberly Miller, PhD , Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research, Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Elizabeth Zimmerman, BS , Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Melanie Kelsea, BS , Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
April Thomas, BS , Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
Lydia Linke, BS , Department of Human Development & Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO
        
Children in Head Start are at risk for non-optimal use of the healthcare system due to such factors as low income, low parental education, and cultural factors. If not addressed early, this can lead children to increasingly poor health outcomes and expensive service utilization. This paper presents the first year results of Project HOME (Healthcare Options Made Easy), a family-empowering, culturally sensitive, replicable train-the-trainers curriculum for improving Head Start families' healthcare literacy skills. First, we examine pre-post intervention and follow-up differences in knowledge about and utilization of healthcare. Second, we compare intervention success for English-speaking and Spanish-speaking families. Training included an evidence-based curriculum, What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick, augmented with training on “Medical Home” and health promotion. Program outcomes (parental healthcare knowledge and utilization, child health) were evaluated in a pre-post design, with follow-up. 141 families (76 Spanish-speaking) completed pre/post-training knowledge tests, as well as surveys (baseline, 1-, 3-, & 6-month) that included measures on Healthcare utilization, Health status, Medical home qualities and barriers. Preliminary results show increases in parents' knowledge of Medical Home characteristics (from 63% to 68% correct), and knowledge of What to Do When Your Child Gets Sick (from 76% to 87% correct); patterns were similar for English and Spanish speaking families, but overall levels were higher for English speakers. Analyses are in progress to test intervention-based differences in healthcare utilization. Findings related to healthcare literacy training in Head Start and improvements to pediatric healthcare access under the “Medical Home” model will be discussed.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Identify core components of a family-empowering, culturally sensitive, replicable train-the-trainers curriculum for improving Head Start families’ healthcare literacy skills. Explain the "medical home" model for improving pediatric healthcare access and how it relates to Head Start efforts to improve children's health outcomes.

Keywords: Access to Health Care, Health Literacy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am the principal investigator on this funded project and oversee all aspects of the project.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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