233988 "A Healthy Baby Begins with You": Addressing disparities through the Office of Minority Health's Preconception Peer Educators Program (PPE)

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 9:05 AM - 9:20 AM

Isabel Estrada-Portales, MS , Director of Communications, Office of Minority Health Resource Center, Rockville, MD
     
In May 2007, the Office of Minority Health (HHS) launched “A Healthy Baby Begins with You” infant mortality awareness campaign to address stagnant rates of infant mortality among African-Americans. Promotional materials were developed and distributed nationally, and OMH representatives and spokespersons traveled to select sites to host community outreach events such as health fairs, baby showers, and gatherings of key local maternal and child health leaders. Once informed, communities wanted to know the next steps to reduce infant mortality in their communities. To address this perceived need, OMH devised the Preconception Peer Educators (PPE) program, to train minority college students to serve as informed peers to share messaging about healthy behaviors and healthy pregnancies. This presentation will discuss the development and implementation of the program, as well present preliminary evaluation data.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Participants in this session will be able to: 1) Identify components of the “A Healthy Baby Begins with You” awareness campaign launched nationally by the Office of Minority Health to increase knowledge of disparities in infant mortality in African-American communities 2) Describe the goals of the Preconception Peer Educator (PPE) program and its preliminary evaluation findings in pilot communities

Keywords: Community Outreach, Pregnancy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to deliver the content because I am Director of Communications for the OMH Resource Center and one of the primary coordinators of the PPE Program.
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.

Back to: 5061.0: Improving Pregnancy Outcomes and Social Justice: Cutting Edge Approaches of Research, Policy, and Practice Leaders