Minda Lazarov, MS, RD, Carole Manny, MPH, and Barbara Clinton, MSW. Center for Health Services/ MIHOW, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Station 17, Nashville, TN 37232-8180, 615-322-4184, minda.lazarov@vanderbilt.edu

The Maternal Infant Outreach Worker (MIHOW) Program hires women from the community to mentor disadvantaged women in their own homes to promote healthy living and good parenting. MIHOW workers in six Southeastern states teach pregnant women and mothers with young children (0 to 3) about nutrition, health and child development, model positive parenting, and link them to medical and social services. Since 1982, MIHOW has generated a pool of more than 300 skilled workers and currently provides more than 5000 visits annually to over 500 families. The pressure to establish new programs inspired MIHOW to design an accreditation program that ensures quality and consistency wherever a MIHOW Program exists. To address the special challenges of credentialing paraprofessionals and the programs that hire them, the Commitment to Excellence MIHOW Accreditation Program (CEMAP^©) was designed to monitor, measure, and honor, while preserving the peer-to-peer relationship between worker and parent. Based on the MIHOW Standards of Practice, CEMAP^© offers a system for reviewing and recognizing MIHOW programs as they achieve excellence in services to families. Instead of a top-down approach, CEMAP^© is a flexible program that accommodates the different needs of each worker, sponsoring agency, and community. The workers, site leaders, participating families, and board members all participate. This presentation will demonstrate how CEMAP^©: 1) boosts the knowledge and skills of the CHW and supervisory staff, and 2) promotes the role of the CHW throughout the community.

Learning Objectives: Participants will be able to

• describe the CEMAP steps and accompanying materials
• discuss how the initiative boosts CHW skills and promotes the role of the CHW within the community and
• understand the application of CEMAP to other CHW programs.

Keywords: Community Health Advisor, Maternal and Child Health

Related Web page: www.mihow.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.