Community Service Programs' Projects at Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine Receives Two Grants to Help Area Women and Infants

Contact: Kevin M. Sanders, (740) 593-0896

ATHENS, Ohio (April 12, 2001) -- Two grants are helping Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine's (OU-COM) Community Services Programs (CSP) provide health care and health education to area women in need.

The Ohio Department of Health authorized the Child and Family Health Services Grant to be used for Athens County's pregnant women and well-child needs.

The grant came after a community health assessment determined that area women need help in five aspects of prenatal care, said CSP's Mary McPherson, nurse coordinator, cancer programs. Prenatal care begins from the onset of pregnancy.

The grant helps underinsured and uninsured women and women who have risk factors for complications in their pregnancies. CSP nurses are linked with area prenatal patients through referrals from local obstetricians. So far, more than 40 area patients have been counseled on prenatal topics to assist them in delivering a healthy baby. In addition, if agreeable, home visits to mothers in the program can be made within the first two weeks of their babies' birth. "Education is the Child and Family Health Services Grant program's primary tactic in achieving its goals," said Kathy Trace, manager of CSP. "Prenatal education can help women curb or eliminate behavior that increases the possibility of infant mortality or the likelihood of unhealthy children."

The major area of focus, said Trace, is to reduce infant mortality, which is directly tied to four other goals: to encourage women to seek medical care within the first three months of pregnancy, take a multivitamin that includes folic acid daily, stop smoking and breast-feed their babies.

Breast-feeding has been shown to be highly beneficial to babies, boosting immunity to diseases and providing the very best nutrition for babies. Women who smoke are at risk for having premature and low-birth weight infants, in addition to the cancer risks smoking increases. Lack of folic acid in the diet has been linked to neural tube defects such as spina bifida. Encouraging women to seek prenatal care within the first three months of pregnancy better assures that the aforementioned health problem will be discussed and, hopefully, avoided.

In order to reach as many potential mothers as possible, a marketing campaign was launched on Mar. 1, featuring four key educational messages as community service messages. The two-month campaign includes radio public service announcements, an outdoor billboard on Route 33 between Nelsonville and Logan, ads in local media and direct mail postcards. All campaign pieces feature the theme "My Health Is In Your Hands, Mom."

All campaign messages are targeted at increasing the number of healthy moms and healthy babies.

Another at-risk group for pregnancy complications is teenagers. Girls younger than 16 years old who become pregnant have an increased probability of having babies with health problems. CSP nurses are targeting this group for education and support to raise awareness about the risks and special needs of pregnant teenagers and their unborn infants.

"We want to make sure every child is born healthy," McPherson said.

The grant also helps to link pregnant women with vital government and community programs and resources such as the Healthy Start program and the Women, Infants and Children Program. Funds from this grant are also earmarked to assist families receive well-child physician visits, which help babies and small children get the best possible health care as early as possible.

The second grant, which concentrates on promoting breast health in women, particularly breast cancer awareness and prevention, is from the Komen Columbus "Race for the Cure" Foundation. The grant was received in January.

The grant helps to provide free breast examinations and education through the Healthy Adult Program in Southeastern Ohio. The focus will be on women who are uninsured and underinsured, targeting women 40 and older. One major goal of this program is to heighten awareness of the importance of regular breast self-exams and regular check-ups by health-care providers.

"We are very grateful to the Komen Columbus Foundation for this grant, which was instrumental in getting the Healthy Adult Project up and running and to Marty Bahya, an OU-COM secretary, who gave us the information about the grant opportunity," said Trace.

Breast screening clinics started in March. There will be four clinics in April, the first of which will be on April 13. The three others will be on Apr. 20, 27 and 30. The Breast and Cervical Cancer Projects of Southeast Ohio is assisting with the clinics. CSP's mobile health unit will deliver the clinics throughout a 10-county area. For more information, please contact Diana Kasler, the grant program's coordinator, at (740) 593-9127.