Taking the pulse of progress toward preconception health

In May 2007, the Office of Minority Health (OMH) of the Department of Health and Human Services launched a national program - A Healthy Baby Begins With You - as part of its initiatives to eliminate health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities in the U.S. The objective of this program is to raise awareness about the disproportionately high infant mortality rates among African Americans, and to underscore the importance/encourage the adoption of preconception and inter-conception health behaviors as a key measure to help prevent infant mortality. The program integrates different strategic communication areas, activities and channels, including: faith based community outreach, high school outreach, community canvassing and health fairs, preconception peer education training, mass media communications, partnerships with local and state health organizations and education for health care professionals. As the campaign approaches its second year anniversary, this evaluation study was designed to: 1) Identify key behavioral indicators for program evaluation; 2) monitor and evaluate results in the “innovator” group (existing group of peer educators); 3)continue to monitor and analyze other process, media or progress indicators; 4) inform future evaluation studies of the campaign's impact among intended audiences. The study used several methods, including pre- and post- questionnaires, cognitive interviews, an online survey, focus groups, and a review and analysis of other results within the interpersonal, mass media, and community-based settings. Key findings are discussed as part of this presentation, including obstacles and social norms that may prevent the adoption of recommended behaviors at the individual or community levels.