March of Dimes Awards Grant to Chatham Hospital Hispanic Health Initiative in orderto Improve the Health of Mothers and Babies in North Carolina
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, March 28, 2007
SILER CITY, N.C. March 28, 2007 —The March of Dimes North Carolina Chapter has awarded a grant to the Hispanic Health Initiative at Chatham Hospital to address the March of Dimes 2007 funding priority: to “Increase Access to and Quality of Health Care for Women and Infants.” The Hospital’s Hispanic Health Initiative’s project will create, publish, and disseminate an educational photonovel for Latinas coping with diabetes during pregnancy--a serious health concern which significantly increases the risk of poor birth outcomes. The use of the photonovel model (which uses photographs with simple dialogue) is a teaching tool that has proven successful, especially in low-literacy populations. Once published, this photonovel will be distributed across the state. It will be versatile enough to be used in a range of contexts including a formal diabetes education class, in a provider’s office, or in an informal discussion between a woman and her family at home. Ms. Alexis Amsterdam will coordinate the project, teaming with Ms. Melida Colindres of Inter-Am Communications and Ms. Susan Auger of Auger Communications. The publication is expected to be ready by the end of 2007.
This grant is one of many that the March of Dimes awards in pursuit of its mission to prevent birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
“We will use the March of Dimes grant to meet the Initiative’s goal of creating an educational tool to help pregnant Latinas with gestational or Type II diabetes have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby.” said Dr. Pam Frasier, Director of the Hispanic Health Initiative. “We are grateful to those volunteers who support the March of Dimes by participation in events like WalkAmerica and who donate in other ways. That participation and those donations make this grant possible,” she said.
The Chatham Hospital Hispanic Health Initiative is a community-based not for profit organization founded in 1999 to address the lack of access to healthcare and health disparities among the growing population of Latinos in Chatham County, NC.
The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish language Web site at nacersano.org.
