Professor To Collaborate On Hispanic Infant Initiative

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Article Date: 05 Oct 2007 - 13:00 PST

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A Valparaiso University nursing professor will collaborate with East Chicago-based HealthVisions Midwest in evaluating a new initiative to reduce the number of infants in Lake County's Hispanic community who die or are born suffering from disease.

HealthVisions has been awarded a five-year, $2 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce infant mortality and morbidity rates, which are higher within the Hispanic community than other groups of the population. Dr. Nola Schmidt, associate professor of nursing, helped HealthVisions prepare its grant application and will monitor and evaluate the initiative's progress over the next five years.

Dr. Schmidt said the program is a good collaborative fit between her research interests and expertise in pediatric care and HealthVisions' desire to improve the health care provided to Hispanic women in Lake County.

"The church has a very important place in the Hispanic community, and with my congregational health background, that's also something that makes this project a nice fit," Dr. Schmidt said. "We want to get churches, midwifes and others involved in this effort to make sure women and families get the prenatal care they need."

The $2 million grant will focus on reducing infant morbidity and mortality rates by improving the prenatal care available to women, improving collaboration among social service providers and making more bilingual services available. The grant was awarded as part of CDC's Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health Across the U.S. (REACH US) program, which aims to reduce the health disparities that exist between various racial and ethnic communities. In 2002, the latest year for which statistics were available, the mortality rate for Hispanics was 6.8 per 1,000 births, compared to a rate of 6.6 per 1,000 births for non-Hispanic whites.

Donald Barnes, CEO/president of HealthVisions, said the CDC grant will help bring about positive changes for Lake County's Hispanic and Latino population in access to healthcare that can reduce health disparities.

"HealthVisions is very excited for the opportunity to work with Dr. Nola Schmidt and Valparaiso University in helping to reduce barriers to health care within our communities," Barnes said. "The information and data this project will provide will be instrumental in making local, systemic changes and we're fortunate to have such a talented professional such as Dr. Schmidt assist in such an important endeavor."

Dr. Schmidt became involved in HealthVisions' grant application last spring, helping to outline objectives for the program and how those objectives would be measured. Over the next five years of the program, she will ensure that measurement of its objectives is taking place, analyze that data and report the results to HealthVisions and the CDC.

"Evaluation is becoming more of an emphasis in these types of public health grants," she said. "Organizations like HealthVisions are being asked to show that they have improved some outcome and, even before receiving a grant, to show they have a plan for conducting a proper evaluation."

During the spring semester, Dr. Schmidt plans to involve some of her nursing students in the initiative. She teaches an annual class on providing prenatal care, and she aims to have groups of nursing students present prenatal education courses to Hispanic women in Lake County through HealthVisions.

"My hope is that some of our nursing students who have taken Spanish will be able to complete their clinical experience for the course by going to East Chicago for prenatal presentations," Dr. Schmidt said. "That would provide a nice opportunity to combine their nursing and language skills, as well as provide a much-needed service to the Hispanic community."

Both during the program and after its completion, Dr. Schmidt said she will be involved in presenting information in a variety of forums, such as public health conferences and nursing journals.

"There are definitely a lot of interesting research possibilities with this program that could impact the way health care is provided to different racial and ethnic groups in communities throughout the country," Dr. Schmidt said. "With several other programs also receiving these CDC grants, we'll find out some interesting information about which ones were successful and why they were successful or didn't meet expectations."

HealthVisions is a faith-based community health organization that works within local communities served by the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ or where called to with other partners. At any one time, the agency has approximately 100 prenatal clients in East Chicago.

Dr. Schmidt said one of the first steps in the program - which is starting immediately - will be organizing a handful of focus groups to figure out what barriers and opportunities are present in the existing health care system.

About the REACH U.S. program

The HealthVisions grant is funded through CDC's Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) U.S. program, which will target five racial and ethnic groups: African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asian Americans, Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaska Natives. REACH U.S. activities focus on a range of key health areas that contribute to health disparities, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, breast and cervical cancer, hepatitis B, asthma, infant mortality, and adult immunizations.

Through the REACH U.S. initiative, 18 national and regional Centers of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities (CEEDs) and 22 Action Communities will be established throughout the country. The CEEDs will serve as national resource centers with expertise in specific ethnic populations and will train additional communities to further spread the impact of REACH activities. The Action Communities will implement and evaluate successful approaches within a specific community to impact population groups, rather than individuals, and focus on key health conditions that contribute to health disparities.

Valparaiso University