141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

290968
Educating women about rights and benefits of the affordable care act

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Thometta Brooks, MS, CGMP , tcbrooks consulting, Tampa, FL
Genae Crump, MS, PhD , Chi Theta Zeta Graduate Chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Tallahassee, FL
Issues: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides women with preventative care services and decreases health care costs. Women are generally the primary health decision makers for their families. In 2009, one in five women in Florida reported not visiting a doctor due to high costs. The Region IV Office of Women's Health (HHS) awarded contracts to increase women's awareness and knowledge of the Act. Description: With the contract, a graduate chapter of a national black sorority implemented media efforts and an educational activity at a festival in Tallahassee, FL. Sorority members broadcasted key messages on local television and radio shows. Festival attendees were given the option to sign-in to receive information or take the pre- and post-surveys. Individuals who signed in received ACA fact sheets with option to view Healthcare.gov. Those who took the surveys were given the pre-survey first, provided ACA education, then took the post-survey. Three knowledge areas posed on surveys were (1) expanded women's health preventative services; (2) pregnancy as a pre-existing condition; and (3) insurance coverage for young adults. Results: The activity impacted 177 individuals (56 Blacks) and 61,039 through media outreach. Surveys concluded: 83.3% reported they have health insurance; 40.7% weren't aware of the Act; and 82.4% had never accessed the website. Knowledge was gained in all three of the learning areas. Recommendations: The ACA will end several discriminatory insurance policies in 2014. Therefore, there should be an increase in media messages to women to ensure they benefit from next year's new benefits.

Learning Areas:
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Describe the need for Affordable Care Act education, especially in minority communities Explain the details of the Affordable Care Act educational activity Discuss the results of the activity and recommendations to target women of color to educate them about pending benefits in the Act

Keywords: Access and Services, Community Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Thometta Brooks is a MPH student at the University of South Florida. Brooks is an affiliated member of the Chi Theta Zeta (CTZ) graduate chapter of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. CTZ was awarded an ACA contract from the Region IV Office of Women’s Health (OWH), U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. She led project as a consultant from tcbrooks consulting group and submitted a final project report to the Region IV OWH.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
Chi Theta Zeta -Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. Affordable Care Act Affiliate Member of Chapter and Consultant

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.