The official newsletter of the North Carolina Preconception Health Campaign
December 2010 | Issue 1
Welcome!
Statewide Multivitamin Distribution Program results
New employee profiles
Plan for NFAAW and Birth Defects Prevention Month
We’re hiring!
Promote healthy weight with new Office Champion Program
Join our LinkedIn group
Our New Campaign is here!
The North Carolina Folic Acid Campaign is now officially the North Carolina Preconception Health Campaign. Over the next few months, we’ll be rolling out our new programs, a new website and other exciting campaign components. This newsletter is the best way for you to keep up to date with our progress.
We are deeply grateful to the March of Dimes, the Department of Public Health’s Women Health Branch, the North Carolina Preconception Health Coalition, and countless other agencies and groups who have supported us during this transition. Thank you for your support!
The Multivitamin Distribution was a success!
At the beginning of 2010, the North Carolina legislature provided funds for a year’s supply of multivitamins with folic acid to low-income, nonpregnant women of childbearing age. Research shows that if all women consume the recommended amount of folic acid before and during early pregnancy, up to 70 percent of all neural tube defects, serious birth defects of the brain and spinal cord, could be prevented. This one-time appropriation led to the state’s largest multivitamin distribution program on record.
The North Carolina Folic Acid Campaign/March of Dimes and the Department of Public Health’s Women’s Health Branch worked together to ensure that vitamins were shipped to participating agencies. Staff members worked tirelessly to recruit, train and follow-up with these agencies across the state.
In the end, 234 agencies signed up for the program. The agencies consisted of all 88 county health departments, and numerous community health centers and safety-net clinics. These agencies were shipped bottles of vitamins based on the number of unduplicated women seen in family planning clinics in 2009.
The Campaign trained more than 2,000 individuals about the importance of folic acid and how to track and distribute vitamins. Our regional coordinators trained 172 agencies on site and reached over 1,000 individuals. We also developed a program to train providers online via our website getfolic.com. The response was tremendous! One thousand and ninety-six people took the online training course between the launch of the program in January and December 1, 2010.
While the participation rate was high, we also wanted to assure that the vitamins were being distributed to women. We were able to collect this information by sending out a survey via e-mail to all agency contacts.
Our final response rate was 99 percent and the results were good! Of the 332,321 bottles distributed to agencies during the program, 105,000 have already been handed out to nearly 40,000 women between January 2010 through October 2010.
We consider this program a success, and the participating agencies do too. When we asked the agencies if they wanted to withdraw from the program, only four said that they did. Additionally, 42 percent said that they will need more vitamins if they became available. Providing a free, one-year supply of vitamins simultaneously with face-to-face health care provider counseling may be the ideal tool to move individuals from knowledge to action and allow women to change their behavior immediately.
Welcome our newest regional coordinators
As you know, the Campaign has been undergoing a lot of changes. We were sad to lose three of our regional coordinators in 2010, but we wish them all the very best. And now we are happy to announce our two newest team members who will serve the eastern part of the state. Please welcome Sarah Wright, Cape Fear Regional Coordinator, and Rovanda Freeman, Eastern Regional Coordinator.
Sarah comes to us from the Beaufort County Health Department where she served as a Public Health Education Specialist. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with minors in Alcohol & Drug Studies and Child Development & Family Relations, and a Master of Arts in Health Education and Promotion, both from Eastern Carolina University. Sarah’s diverse and impressive background will be an asset to the Campaign and the Cape Fear Region in particular.
Another ECU Pirate has joined our team. Rovonda comes to us by way of the Wayne County Health Department where she was the Minority Health Coordinator/Public Health Education Specialist. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Education and Promotion with a Community Health Concentration, in addition to a Master of Arts in Health Education. Rovonda has an abundance of experience in conducting outreach and health education programs to various audiences on a myriad of subjects, including women’s health and preconception health.
Contact them – they’ll be happy to stop by to give a presentation or just introduce themselves to you!
Sarah Wright, MA
E-mail: swright@marchofdimes.com
Cape Fear Regional Coordinator
March of Dimes Cape Fear Division
351 Wagoner Dr., Ste 104
Fayetteville, NC 28303
Phone: 910-483-3691
Fax: 910-483-5234
Counties covered: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Harnett, Hoke, Montgomery, Moore, New Hanover, Pender, Richmond, Robeson, Sampson, and Scotland.
Rovonda Freeman, MA
E-mail: rfreeman@marchofdimes.com
Eastern Regional Coordinator
March of Dimes
201 Wingspread Dr.
Goldsboro, NC 27530
Phone: 919-689-2320
Counties covered: Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven, Currituck, Dare, Duplin, Edgecombe, Gates, Greene, Halifax, Hertford, Hyde, Jones, Lenoir, Martin, Nash, Northampton, Onslow, Pamlico, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrell, Washington, Wayne, and Wilson
National Folic Acid Awareness Week and Birth Defects Prevention Month
This January we observe National Folic Acid Awareness Week from January 2-8, 2011 and the entire month is dedicated to Birth Defects Prevention. This is a great time to remind your family, friends, patients and others about the importance of folic acid and preventing birth defects. Now is the time to stock up on materials and plan any special activities for the week and month.
Here are some ideas to get your started:
- Create a folic acid awareness bulletin board to display prominently in waiting areas, offices, or check-out areas.
- Send a news release or a letter to the editor to your local paper, television station or radio station. See the National Folic Acid Council’s Media Implementation Kit for guidance on this.
- Use social networking sites to tweet, blog or post facts about folic acid, multivitamins and/or birth defects throughout the month. Aim for 2-4 posts per week.
- If you participate in the Statewide Multivitamin Distribution Program, use this time to get these vitamins out in the community. Don’t let the vitamins sit in a storage room. Distribute them to any non-pregnant women of childbearing age (just don’t forget to get them to initial the tracking log).
- Schedule a lunch-and-learn, speaker’s bureau, health fair or other special event to talk about folic acid, multivitamins or birth defects. Or piggyback on an existing event that month by inserting a folic acid message.
To order materials or to get more resources, please visit the following websites:
getfolic.com
marchofdimes.com product catalog
folicacidinfo.org
cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/freematerials.html
We’re still hiring!
The last position that the Campaign needs to fill is for the Triad Regional Coordinator. This person should possess excellent networking, writing and public speaking skills in addition to being well versed in public health issues and education. Master and/or professional degree in nutrition, health education/promotion, public health, pharmacy, nursing, or related field preferred; or Bachelor’s degree in nutrition, health promotion, community health, or related field plus 2 years experience. Persons with a dietician or nutrition background are strongly encouraged to apply. To apply, please visit the March of Dimes website and search for jobs located in Winston-Salem, NC.
New Office Champion Program will promote healthy weight
In early 2011, Campaign staff will begin trainings and educational presentations at public and private health care settings that focus on understanding how a woman’s body mass index (BMI) can impact her health before and during pregnancy. Although increased BMI before pregnancy is associated with many adverse pregnancy outcomes, overweight and obesity remain among the top health issues for women. Campaign staff plan to work with providers and individuals in the community to provide practical tools and suggestions to help women achieve a healthy weight one small step at a time.
We're looking for health departments who are interested in a healthy weight presentation. Please contact us if you're interested. Trained agencies will receive healthy weight booklets, BMI tools, gestational wheels and incentives.
Join our LinkedIn group!
We’ve created a brand new group on LinkedIn. This group is great for current and former Office Champions, Community Ambassadors, volunteers, staff members and council members to connect and network. Join today!
Also check us out on our social social networking sites if you haven't already.
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