The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #72855

Lola Riggs, BA¹, Novalene Goklish¹, Pauline Fields¹, Brandii McCabe¹, Elena Varipatis, MPH, MSW¹, Kristen Speakman, MA¹, Allison Barlow, MA, MPH¹, Golda Ginsburg, PhD², and John Walkup, MD². (1) Center for American Indian Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Tuba City Mobile Home Park, Space 27, Tuba City, AZ 86045, (928)283-8221, lriggs2@juno.com, (2) Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 600 N Wolfe Street, CMSC 312, Baltimore, MD 21287

The Family Spirit initiative, developed in partnership by Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, the Navajo and White Mountain Apache Tribes, is the most comprehensive family strengthening program in Indian country. The target population is teenage mothers, fathers, their offspring and extended families. The core service strategy is a home visiting program run by 10 Navajo and Apache Family Health Educators (FHEs), who are bi-lingual community members, once teen parents themselves. FHEs receive 500+ hours of para-professional training by Johns Hopkins public health experts to deliver the program. Interested clients are enrolled by FHEs at 28 weeks gestation and served weekly until their baby’s first birthday. FHEs meet clients in their homes and teach structured lessons on infant care, parenting, life-skills and self-help. The curriculum includes tribal-specific teachings on local culture and history, preparing and caring for babies, setting goals, planning for the future and developing lifeskills. Cultural components aim to help clients draw on traditions and community strengths for guidance and motivation, and were developed through consultation with tribal elders, community leaders and FHEs. In addition to in-home lessons, FHEs refer and transport parents to other needed services within their communities such as substance abuse, mental health or legal assistance programs. The specific aims of the project are to increase parenting knowledge and skills, improve family relationships, increase use of community services, reduce high risk behaviors, improve infant outcomes, and increase community capacity to support young families. These objectives are being evaluated through a randomized treatment-comparison evaluation.

Learning Objectives:

• At the end of the session, participants will be able to:
• -Discuss the ways that the Family Spirit curriculum has been tailored to meet the unique cultural beliefs of the participating tribes
• -Recognize the challenges faced by FHEs in delivering this program to impoverished American Indian teen parents

Keywords: American Indians, Maternal and Child Health

Related Web page: www.jhsph.edu/CAIH/index.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Employer