The purpose of this presentation is to share with other practitioners the unique aspects of a community-based health education program. The Stork’s Nest is a prenatal education program with three main objectives:
1. Provide prenatal education and incentives to low income pregnant women. 2. Motivate women to get early, regular prenatal care through earned incentives. 3. Educate women on self-care during pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum.
Currently, over 200 Stork’s Nest prenatal education programs exist all over the United States. The program is implemented based on the Stork’s Nest Implementation Guide and Curriculum developed by Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and the March of Dimes. Successful replication and adaptation of the program to various settings has been the key to the success of the program.
Since the West Alabama site became fully operational in 2000, over seven hundred and fifty participants have utilized program services and incentives. Some of the key elements of the success of the program have been its targeted location, unique techniques recruiting volunteers and participants, and garnering community support.
The West Alabama implementation site examined in this presentation demonstrates how a broad-based curriculum can be uniquely targeted and tailored for the needs and resources of a specific community. The findings of a process evaluation conducted through a university partnership are presented here. The evaluation results point to ways in which the evaluation process can not only result in program improvement, but also can be a community building effort. The qualitative impact of the process evaluation on the program is specifically highlighted.
Learner objectives
Objective 1: Attendees will understand program elements that should be considered when adapting existing curricula to various settings.
Objective 2: Attendees will understand how to utilize specific techniques during the evaluation process as a tool for community building.