communication strategies - teen pregnancy - prevention and support

8/11/2019 Communication Strategies - Teen Pregnancy - Prevention and Support

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O M M U N I T I O N

S T R T E G I E S

Teen Pregnancy:

Prevention and Support

B Y R H O D W E I S S

A

s the tee n pr egn ancy ra te r ises each

year, America's hospitals are taking a

l eade rsh ip ro l e in dea l ing wi th the

growing cha l l enges a s soc ia t ed w i th

ch i ld ren hav ing ch i ld ren . Many a re sponsor ing

pregn ancy prev ent io n and supp or t s e rv i ces . I

report

on two such hospitals.

T E E N P R E G N N C Y P R E V E N T I O N

Collaboration Is Essential R esu lts of co m m u ni ty

needs assessments and other data served as the

impetus for the Teen Health Project, spearhead

ed by St . Joseph Hospi ta l , Poison, MT. In the

Poison area in 1995, 16.8 percent of all l ive births

were to teen mothers ; the ra te for the s ta te and

the nation was 12 percent

T h e g r o u p s i n v o l v e d i n t h e T e e n H e a l t h

Project hope to reduce teen pregnancy ra tes in

the a rea , r a i s e awarenes s o f t he prob lem, and

build alliances that can be called on when other

complex social and health problems arise.

A l o n g w i t h S t . J o s e p h H o s p i t a l , t h e a r e a

s c h o o l d i s t r i c t a n d c o u n t y h e a l t h d e p a r t m e n t

established the project this year. Funding comes

f rom the S i s t e r s o f P rovidence a t S t . Joseph ,

Montana Consor t ium for Exce l l ence in Hea l th

C a r e , P r o j e c t C o n n e c t a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f

Colorado , t he s chool d i s t r i c t , and the

county's

heal th and family planning department .

Th rou gh a s teer ing comm it tee that meets each

m o n t h , m e m b e r s o f t h e c o m m u n i t y a r e a l so

involved in the Teen Health Project. The project

is guided by teens , parents , teachers , counselors ,

represen ta t ives o f t he Confede ra t ed

Salish

and

Kootenai tribes, medical personnel, family crisis

wo rkers, and sch ool officials.

T h e d a y s a r e l o n g g o n e w h e n o n e s i n g l e

agency or institutio n is capable of addressin g th e

overwhe lming and complex soc ia l p rob lem of

t e e n p r e g n a n c y , s ay s M a u r e e n M o r i a r t y , S t .

Joseph Hospi ta l ' s Teen Heal th Project coordina

tor .

Because

of l imited

resourcesboth

human

and financialcoalitions th at un ite ins titu tio ns

a n d a g e n c i e s a r o u n d c o m m o n o b j e c t i v e s a n d

s Weiss is a

Santa

Monica

CA bascd

healthcare

consultant.

problems may provide some answers .

Real-World Experience T h e T ee n He al th P ro je ct 's

key approach to preventing teen pregnancy is to

provide teens with an experience similar to real-

world parent ing. Baby Thin k I t Ov er dol ls give

teens an oppo rtuni ty to pa ren t .

The dol ls (recent ly int roduced in high school

home economic courses) are

lifelikerealistically

weighted , ana tomica l ly cor rec t , and programed

to produce an infant 's piercing cry every two to

four hours . To s top the crying, teens must appro

priately te nd the ba by by inserting a key and

holding it for

10

to 35 minutes , the t ime i t would

take for a feeding. The doll can be adjusted to

s i m u l a t e a c o l i c k y i n f a n t . T o m o n i t o r t e e n s '

re sponse to the c ry ing do l l , a mic roproces sor

inside records how long it had been crying before

being fed.

As

one might imagine, teens usually have an

atti tude change about what i t takes to parent an

infant after two or three days with Baby Think It

Ov er, s ta tes Moriar ty.

Adopt a Baby T he success with Baby Thi nk It O ver

led to the launching of the Adopt a Baby pro

gram. The program gives local organizations the

oppor tun i ty to g ran t t he h igh s chool $220 to

purchase an additional Baby Think It Over doll .

The Teen Hea l th P ro jec t has made Adopt a

Baby presentations to nearly every service organi

z a t i o n i n P o i s o n , i n c l u d i n g t h e L i o n s C l u b ,

R o t a r y , S o r o p t i m i s t s , K i w a n i s, M i n i s t e r i a l

Assoc ia t ion , hosp i t a l boa rd and auxi l i a ry , and

Chamber of Commerce . No groups have tu rned

d o w n t h e p r o j e c t ' s i n v i t a t i o n t o b u y a B a b y

Think It Over doll for the high school.

Moriar ty points out ,

We

gene ra t e communi ty

awareness for the teenage pregnancy problem in

Poison and s t imulate interes t in and commitment

to the project .

Winner Th e Tee n Health Pr oject, recen t winner

of the Mo ntana H ospi ta l Associa tion Innov at ions

in H e a l t h c a r e A w a r d , i s c o m p r e h e n s i v e i n i ts

scope. For the f i rs t t ime, Poison area schools

have adopted a cur r i cu lum, de t e r ren t me thod s ,

4 8 NOVE MBER DECE MBER 1995

HEALTH PROGRESS


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and other educat ional tools on teen

pregnancy.

Plans are under way to add curr iculum compo

nents for parents , teachers , and peer- to-peer edu

cat ion and support .

An offshoot of the Teen Health Project is the

Chamber of Hea l th , based on the Chamber of

Commerce mode l . The Chamber of Hea l th ac t s

as a focal point for coalit ions to address health

issues. Members are currently designing an AIDS

awarenes s camp a ign for t he comm uni ty . John

LaTr ie l l e , PhD, d i rec tor o f S t . Joseph ' s home

health prog ram and a foun der of the Teen Heal th

Project , explains , With the Cha mb er of Heal th,

we believe we have succeeded in uniting the com

muni ty around common object ives and created a

n e w , d i v e r s e h e a l t h c a r e c o a l i t i o n po i s e d t o

address future heal th issues and concerns and

more e f fec t ive ly u t i l i ze f inanc ia l and human

resources .

T P R E G N N C Y S U P P O R T

Teenagers who become pregnant need ongoing

support sys tems. One such comprehens ive pro

gram i s t he Exp ec ta n t Te en Cl in i c (E T C ) in

Mass i l lon, O H , which ope ned in early 1994 with

the support of Doctors Hospi ta l and the county

heal th department .

Sponsorsh ip of ETC demons t ra t e s t he hospi

tal 's desire to be socially accountable and further

advances it mission as a leader in the community.

ETC operates out of the Doctors Hospi ta l Nurse

Midwifery Pract ice , offer ing teens af ter-school

a p p o i n t m e n t s . ETC's goal i s to edu cate teen s

about their pregnancies and give them guidelines

to follow throu ghou t . Teens a re o f ten no ncom -

pliant with prenatal care, notes Dee Prank parent

educator a t Doctors Hospi ta l . She points out that

a l m o s t 5 0 pe r c e n t o f p r e gn a n t t e e n s d o n o t

receive f i rs t t r imester care , put t ing themselves

and their babies at risk. We realize that the com

munity's healthcare dollars arc more wisely spent

on prenatal care than on high-risk pregnancies,

says

Frank. Prenatal

care can prevent

low-bir th-

weight babies and expensive medical care.

Senices include physical examinations; regular

c h e c k u ps ; n u t r i t i o n a l e v a l u a t i o n s ; l a b o r a t o r y

tests;

cou nseling ; and personalized health educa

tion that focuses on exercise, nutrit ion, and fetal

growth development .

Certified registered nurse midwives statTE T C .

Th ey are affiliated with a physician w ho is avail

able for consu ltation as nee ded . Doc tors Hosp ital

nurses, a social worker, clinic aide, nutrit ionist ,

and heal th educator a lso provide senic es .

ET C is ope n to a ll you ng wo men aged 18 or

younger . Se rv ices a re o f fe red on a sliding-fec

scale, based on ability to pay.

ETC is a safety areawe're n o n j u d gm e n t a l

the days are

longgone

when a single

institution is

c p ble of

ddressing the

problem of

teen

pregnancy.

cit

John LaTrielle Teen Health Projectfounder and Maureen

Moriarty Teen Health Project coordinator with Baby

Think tOver Dolls.

he re, explains Prank. We encourage teen clients

to have goals and we emphasize the need to com

plete scho ol, she adds .

Communication Equals Success xMuch of E T C 's su c

cess is a t t r ibuted to Doctors Hospi ta l ' s commu

nication strategies.The hospital recently received

a Touchs tone Aw ard from the American Hospital

Association's American Society for Health Care

Marketing and Public Relations. In addition, the

Ohio Society for Healthcare Public Relations pre

s en ted i t w i th tw o gold R each for t he S ta r s

awards.

A t a t o t a l cost o f on ly $2 , 00 0 , ET C he igh t

ened the communi ty ' s awarenes s o f i t s senices

through bright pos ters (wi th detachable tags pro

v id ing ETC' s t e l ephone number ) ;

brochures ; di rect mai l geared to

iecus and referral agencies; media

coverage; and articles in

the

hos

pi t a l ' s phys i c i an , employee ,

MM \

community newslet ters .

W e t o o k a d i r e c t m a i l

approach to let area professionals

s u c h a s s o c i a l w o r k e r s , s c h o o l

counselors, and clergy know that

e x pe r t s f r o m D o c t o r s H o s p i t a l

were available to provide special

care to this underscn'ed popula

t ion , explains Mary

Bibcr

assis

tant director of public relations at

Doctors Hospi ta l .

Continued on p jje6 9

Through posters brochures and direct

mail.

Doctors Hospital spread the word

to the community about the services of

the Expectant Teen Clinic.

HEALTH PROGRESS

NOVEMBER DECEMBER 1995 4 9


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C O M M U N I C T I O N

Continued from page49

To ensure the material on ETC

would attract

teens'

attention, the

hospital's graphic artist pored over

teen magazines

to

develop

a

modern,

youthful look. Promotional material

communicated that prenatal care is

available in asafe, friendly, and non-

judgmental place, especially to girls

for whom such care might be a finan

cial hardship.

A

week

after

the

promotion began,

the hospital

was

flooded with

requests for assistance from school

counselors, city health department

staff,

and representatives of several

agencies. One local high school, not

ing that

70 of its

students were preg

nant, requested

100

brochures.

An

additional

220

brochures were mailed

to various groups.

Organizations such as the YMCA

requested additional promotional

material, reporting that all the tags

with ETC's telephone number had

been taken from

the

posters

in

their

lobbies.

The

requests

for

literature

were

sooverwhelming,

reports

Biber,

that an additional 5,000 brochures

were printed. At the conclusion of

the initial promotional period,

ETC

reported that the number of

teenagers seen at the clinic had dou

bled.

As a result of the promotional

efforts, hundreds ofprofessionals are

aware

of

this vital ser vice, says

Candy

Lautenschleger,

director oi

public relations

at

Doctors Hospital.

The promotion fulfilled itsgoals of

creating awareness about ETC,

increasing referrals of teens to

Doctors Hospital, positioning mid-

wives

as

efficient

and

cost effective,

and communicating

a

favorable image

of

our

hospital's leadership actions

to

meet community needs.

^ i Foradditional information on the

Teen Health Project

at St.

Joseph Hospital

in Poison MT call Maureen Moriarty at

406-883-5377.

=^#T Foradditional information on the

Fxpeetant Teen lime at Doctors Hospital

Midwifery Practice

in

Massillon

OH

call

Maiy Biber

at

216-837-7311.

U.S. Postal Service

STATEMENTO

OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION

Required

by 39 U.S.C.

3685)

1

Titleofpublication:Health Progress

2

Publication number:

0882-1577

3. Dateoffiling:Sept. 29, 1995

4

Issue F requency:

Bi-monthly

5. No.ofissues published a nnually:

6

6. Annual subscription price:

40 domestic, 45 foreign

7. Locationofknown officeofpublication:4455 Woodson

Rd.,

St. Louis.MO

63134-3797

8. Locationofheadquartersof general business officesof

the

publisher:

4455

Woodson

Rd,

St. Louis, MO 63134-3797

9. Names and complete addressesofpublisher, editor, and managing editor:

John E. Curley. Jr., publisher; Judy

B

Cassidy,

editor;

Susan K. Hum e, man

agingeditor;4455 Woodson Rd., St. Louis,MO63134-3797

10 . Owner: The Catholic Health Associationofthe U nited States, 4455 W oodson

Rd., St. Louis. MO 63134-3797

11 . Known Bond holders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders:None

12 .

T h e

purpose, function, and nonprofit status

of

this organization and the exem pt

status for federal income tax purposes has not changed during the preceding

1 2

months

1 3 Publication nam e:Health Progress

1 4 Issue dateforcirculation data below: September-October 1995

Average No. Copies

Each Issue During

Preceding 12 Months

15 . Extent and natureof circulation:

a. Total no. copies (net press run) 13,433

b. Paid and/or requested circulation

(1) Sales through dealers and car- 0

riers, street vendors,and

counter sales

(2) PaidorRequested Mail 10,355

Subscriptions

c. Total paid and/or requested circu- 10,355

lation (sum

of

15b 1)and 15b (2))

d Free distributionbymail 2,702

e. Free distribution outside the mail 0

f.

Total free distribution

(sumof15d 2 702

an d

15e)

g Total distribution

sumof 1 5 c

an d

13,057

15f)

h. Copies not distributed

(1) Office use, leftovers, spoiled

(2) Return from news agents

i. Total

(sumof15g,15h(1).and

15h(2))

Percent paid and/or requested circulation 79.30

15c/15gx 100)

16 .

This statementofownership w illbe

printed

in theNovember-December

1 9 9 5

issueofthis publica tion.

I certify that the statements madebyme above are correct and comp lete.Judy B.

Cassidy,

Editor.

Actual N o Copies of

Single Issue Published

Nearest to Filing Date

13,100

0

10,298

10,298

2,659

0

2,659

12,957

376

0

13,433

143

0

13,100

79 . 48

HEALTH PROGRESS

N O V E M B E R - D E C E M B E R 1995 6 9

communication strategies - teen pregnancy - prevention and support

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