There’s a Meeting in the Village: A stress reduction program for Community Health Workers who care for pregnant women of color Kweli R. Walker, MPH Director, Black Infant Mortality Reduction Resource Center Northern New Jersey Maternal/Child Health Consortium Ilise Zimmerman, MPH, MS President and Chief Operating Officer Northern New Jersey Maternal/Child Health Consortium

There's a Meeting in the Village2 Background Every eight seconds a baby is born in the United States, and within one hour four babies will die For Black NJ residents, infant mortality is two to three times the rate of White residents Stress is a major modifiable risk factor for adverse birth outcomes among women of color

There's a Meeting in the Village3 Program Goal To combat the alarming and increasing rate of infant mortality among Black NJ residents, “There’s A Meeting In the Village”: A Stress Reduction Train-The-Trainer Program for Paraprofessionals (serving pregnant women of color) was developed.

There's a Meeting in the Village4 Why use Community Health Workers? Community Health Workers (CHW’s) often reside within the community they serve; therefore they have a better understanding of the community needs and cultural and lifestyle behaviors. Enhancing the skills of this often overlooked workforce yields a positive benefit in improving maternal/child health outcomes (Lewin, S.A., et al, Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2005 (1), Lay Health workers in primary and community health care.)

There's a Meeting in the Village5 Program Objectives To enroll 160 paraprofessionals who provide direct care to pregnant and parenting women of color in our program. 90% of the 160 enrollees will have increased their base-line level of knowledge as a direct result of the training program 90% of the enrollees will integrate the information acquired from training into their work with pregnant women of color, and relay the information to 10 or more clients.

There's a Meeting in the Village6 Curriculum Design Grant funded support was provided through the March of Dimes (MOD) New Jersey Chapter to implement this training program among paraprofessionals. The training objective was to educate the participants on the following topics: Role as a Paraprofessional / Community Health Worker (CHW) Signs, Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention of Preterm Labor Stress Reduction Techniques and Coping Strategies Motivate the Messenger (Encouragement for CHW’s)

There's a Meeting in the Village7 Facilitated Trainings A total of twelve training sessions were delivered over a six month period. Trainings took place at different locations including: -NJ Primary Care Association -Hispanic Development Corporation -Healthy Mothers / Healthy Babies Coalition – Paterson -Healthy Mothers / Healthy Babies Coalition – Camden -Southern Jersey Family Medical Centers

There's a Meeting in the Village8 Evaluation Design: Program Participants Pre & Post Tests were distributed to the participants to analyze knowledge. Out of a total of seven questions, five related to knowledge of the following: –preterm birth –low birth weight –awareness of impact of stress on pregnancy –stress reduction techniques

There's a Meeting in the Village9 Evaluation Design: Program Participants’ Clients Program participants received training binders with information for themselves, and also information to share with their clients. The participants were asked to assess their clients’ knowledge of stress, preterm birth and low birth weight by administering 10 client surveys each and returning them to the Training Specialist.

There's a Meeting in the Village10 Results & Impact Of the 147 participants that responded to the pre and post tests: 99% increased their knowledge of pre-term birth (baseline knowledge was 85%) 92% of the participants increased their knowledge of low birth weight (baseline knowledge was 79%) 100% increased their knowledge of stress reduction and coping strategies (baseline knowledge was 56%) 100% of the participants increased their awareness of the impact that stress has on pregnancy (baseline awareness 88%)

There's a Meeting in the Village11 Results & Impact (cont..) A total of 580 client surveys were returned. Out of the 580 clients who responded to the surveys: 90% of the clients increased their knowledge of preterm birth and low birth weight as risk factors for infant mortality. In addition, 85% of the clients learned the correct definition of preterm or premature birth.

There's a Meeting in the Village12

There's a Meeting in the Village13 Conclusion Over 90% of the participants responded correctly to all questions related to knowledge of preterm birth, low birth weight, awareness of the impact of stress on pregnancy, and stress reduction techniques. 85% of the participants stated that they felt equipped to share this information with their clients and others. 90% of the clients increased their knowledge of preterm birth and low birth weight as risk factors for infant mortality. The BIMRRC is actively seeking grant funding to continue this successful program. There’s a Meeting in the Village proved to be very successful in increasing awareness and knowledge about the impact of stress on pregnancy and preterm birth / low birth weight as a risk factor for infant mortality.