About The Center > Programs and Projects of the Past
Healthy Futures Perinatal Research and Systems Design Project: Healthy Futures was a qualitative research and systems designed project, carried out 2005-2010, aimed at exploring personal, social, contextual, and environmental factors that may contribute to adverse maternal, birth, and infant outcomes (specifically low birth weight and prematurity) among African American women in Florida. The research phase involved two in-depth interviews of African American women one month and six months after giving birth to explore their experience with perinatal care and the environment in which their pregnancy occurred. The system design phase of the project entailed working with stakeholders in Leon and Pinellas counties to identify, develop, and implement enhancements to their perinatal health care systems based on the findings from the research phase. The project was funded by the Agency for Health Care Administration. Rapid Assessment of Racial Disparities in Infant Mortality The intent of this study is to assist the Healthy Start Coalition of Hillsborough County to use scientific research methods to gather the opinions and thoughts of representatives of African American regarding the rise in Black infant deaths in Hillsborough County. Focus groups (14) will be conducted concurrently on July 21, 2007, at the USF College of Public Health; transcribe and analyze the data for a rapid feedback to the participants in repeat focus groups on September 14, 2007. After validating our findings with the study participants, the information will be disseminated to maternal and child health program, policy and practice decision makers for use in improving services and ultimately perinatal health outcomes in Hillsborough County. Longitudinal Study of Parent Engagement in Healthy Families Pinellas The objective of this exploratory study is to examine parent engagement of a randomly selected cohort of Healthy Families Pinellas families who participated in the home intervention program for high risk families with young children between 1998 and 2005. The study is currently reviewing 450 randomly selected client records to (a) describe characteristics of families who were enrolled for a short term period, a moderate period, and a long term period and (b) to compare outcomes of these families in the areas of engagement, development, autonomy, and well-being. The group has been stratified by length of enrollment. Short term families were enrolled in the program for less than 9 months; moderate term families were enrolled between 9 and 27 months; and long term families were enrolled for more than 27 months. Findings from the exploration study will provide important data to inform the development of a larger prospective study of relationships among families and program staff that predict and support successful family participation, adaptation, and development. Evaluation of WAIT Training WAIT (Why Am I Tempted) Training, is a curriculum that delivers key health and youth development messages to middle school and high school students receiving WAIT Training in Hillsborough County Public Schools and some private schools. Evaluation of WAIT Training is the focus of this project. The goals of the evaluation are: 1) to evaluate the effectiveness of the WAIT curriculum to influence attitudes and knowledge about the consequences of sexual activity, management of peer pressure, and abstinence; 2) to describe characteristics, social capital, and assets of teens in the Tampa community; and 3) to examine the effect of teen characteristics and assets on how well teens receive and use WAIT Training messages. To measure these effects the project revised pre and post training surveys currently used and added additional questions to identify social capital and youth assets. The responses to both surveys are then linked together to measure the effect of the WAIT training. In a second phase of the project a 4 month follow-up survey will be pilot tested with a volunteer sample of students to see if their responses change over time, if they can recall important information learned from the training, and determine use of the learned information. The project is funded by the USF Collaborative for Children, Families & Communities and the Children’s Board. Black Infant Health Community Collaborative (BIHCC) The purpose the Black Infant Health Community Collaborative (BIHCC) is to combat the alarming rise in Black Infant Mortality by sustaining the momentum developed by the Black Infant Health Practice Initiative (BIHPI) in developing solutions for reducing the disparity between Black and White infant mortality in Florida. This project will be carried out by the joint efforts of county specific Community Action Teams, USF COPH (University of South Florida College of Public Health) and FAMU (Florida A&M University) with funds provided by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
* To view Program Description, click here. For more information about BIHCC please contact: Central Hillsborough Healthy Start Project The purpose of the Central Hillsborough Healthy Start Project (CHHS) is to narrow the gap in the existing racial disparities in perinatal outcomes in Tampa neighborhoods where Black infants die in the first year of life at a rate more than twice that of White infants. The project currently serves mothers and babies in 17 of Tampa’s urban census tracts where over 70% of the births are to Black mothers who are typically young, unmarried, undereducated, and Medicaid eligible. Despite the economic, health, and social challenges, the service community stakeholders, program participants, project staff, and project partners are committed to pooling and mobilizing their unique resources to level the playing field for Central Hillsborough’s Black mothers and infants. Together program participants, residents, churches, schools, health care providers, and project staff are committed to reach out, engage, support and guide the emerging families toward a more healthy beginning. Strategies for project goals and objectives address low birth weight, preterm infants, repeat births, Healthy Start screening rates and perinatal depression screening. Integrated community, county, and state efforts are complimentary. Closing the Gap (CTG) in Infant Mortality Project –Summary The goal of the Closing the Gap in Infant Mortality (CTG) is to decrease racial and ethnic disparities in maternal and infant mortality rates. CHHS, with CTG, fosters the development of joint partnerships with public and private organizations, state and local government, faith-based organizations, social service providers and nontraditional partners. CTG activities in Hillsborough County provide educational information and screening on maternal infections and periodontal disease. The Project also provides educational information and trainings on (1) maternal nutrition, (2) baby spacing, (3) maternal infections, and (4) periodontal disease to women, their extended families and the community. Furthermore, the Project provides marketing campaigns that include new and innovative methods (developed from focus group data) to advertise Project services and general information about the racial disparity gap that currently exists in infant mortality. Central Hillsborough Healthy Start/Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Neighborhood Initiative Innovation Mini-Grant The goal of the Allegany Franciscan Ministries Neighborhood Initiative Innovation Mini-Grant is to increase opportunities and resources to build the community’s capacity to promote and protect the health and well-being of its citizens, especially mothers, infants, and young children and their families by providing small grants, and technical assistance to obtain and manage those grants to grass roots agencies, not-for-profit 501(c)3 and faith based organizations that serve East Tampa families. March of Dimes/Central Healthy Start Faith and Outreach Initiative (FOI) The goal of the March of Dimes/Central Hillsborough Healthy Start Faith and Outreach Initiative is to use the faith community and local health and outreach fairs to educate area women of childbearing age, their families and the community about screening and treatment for reproductive infections, periodontal disease and depression. Focus is placed upon increasing access to and quality of health care for women and infants. Community Health Worker National Education Collaborative (CHW-NEC) The CHW National Education Collaborative is a project that brings together leaders in the CHW field to develop a consensus around “best practice” approaches to community health worker education. The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center serves as a Core Technical Assistance Institution on this project that is funded by the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center and the Arizona AHEC. Between 2002 and 2005 The Maternal and Child Services Workforce Development Program (MCS-WFD) at the Chiles Center was funded by the U.S Department of Labor and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop postsecondary education for community health workers. In cooperation with 3 community college partners (St. Petersburg College, Hillsborough Community College, and Central Florida Community College), the MCS-WFD Program successfully pilot tested and evaluated a 21 credit hour Applied Technical Diploma program that articulates toward an associate degree in Human Services and Counseling. Students of these programs are primarily non traditional, socio-economically disadvantaged and ethnically diverse students who are employed by health care and human service agencies to work with, teach, and support clients with similar demographics. The three programs continue to operate in Florida. Under the auspices of the CHW-NEC, the Chiles Center MCS-WFD and the three Adapter Institutions are actively participating and helping to inform best practices in CHW education.
The 3rd International Conference on Brain Monitoring and Neuroprotection in the Newborn. Jan 16-18, 2008 Vienna, Austria: The 21st Annual Gravens Conference on the Physical and Developmental Environment of the High Risk Infant. Jan 30-Feb 2, 2008 Clearwater Beach, FL: Links to other important web sites: Refugee and Entrant Technical Assistance Project Coordinate and deliver eligibility determination and Florida KidCare training to community based organizations to increase refugees’ access to economic and health care services Publications/Abstracts/Policy Papers Links to other important web sites Brain Research to Ameliorate Impaired Neurodevelopment (BRAIN): Home-based InterventionTrial (HIT) The major goal of this clinical trial is to test the efficacy of a home-based parent-provided early developmental intervention in three developing countries, designed for infants who have had birth asphyxia. In partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham, personnel from the Chiles Center trained paraprofessional staff and community health workers in rural Zambia, India, and Pakistan to conduct home visits and to teach parents specific developmentally appropriate interactions with their child in the course of daily life in order to foster and support the child’s development. The study will examine developmental outcomes of target children and will examine other child and family characteristics that influence participation in the child’s intervention.
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Child Development Education ProgramsThe Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies
3111 E. Fletcher Avenue Tampa, Florida 33613
Phone: (813) 974-8888 Fax: (813) 974 - 8889
This page was last modified on October 14, 2010.
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3111 E. Fletcher Avenue Tampa, Florida 33613
Phone: (813) 974-8888 Fax: (813) 974 - 8889
This page was last modified on October 14, 2010.
Top of Page