|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Keeping Teen Dads Involvedby Dana Benson
That opinion, shared by the leadership at the Baylor Teen Health Clinic and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, forged a partnership to strengthen families—even those that do not fit the traditional mold. The result was Strong Start Stable Families, a joint project of the Baylor Teen Health Clinic and the state Attorney General's Office. The couples-based program offers medical care, education and social services to teenagers and young adults ages 16 to 23 who are facing pregnancy and parenthood. The program is just one piece of the Baylor Teen Health Clinic's overall efforts to improve the health and well-being of adolescents and young adults in Harris County. The Teen Health Clinic, founded in 1976, is part of Baylor College of Medicine, and works collaboratively with the Harris County Hospital District and other entities. The Attorney General's Office—once viewed primarily as the agency of child support enforcement—also offers an array of programs that strengthen families, encourage responsible fatherhood and promote increased parental cooperation and involvement. "We really do feel that the male plays a very special role in enhancing outcomes as it relates to reproductive health, maternity care and childhood development," said Peggy Smith, M.D., Director of the Baylor Teen Health Clinic and BCM Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "This program offers a very strong way to enhance families who may or may not choose to get married but who can be a team as it relates to the emotional, cognitive and physical outcome of their infant." Centering Pregnancy conceptYoung women patients at any of the seven Baylor Teen Health Clinic facilities who become pregnant are referred to the Strong Start program, where they are grouped based on when they are due to have their babies. The first group started in June 2006. Since that time, 12 groups have "graduated," and there are four currently meeting. The program follows the Centering Pregnancy curriculum, a group model that provides medical care, support and education about a variety of pregnancy topics. Specific to the Strong Start Stable Families program is additional information on parenting and relationships. Couples in the program take part in 12 two-hour sessions. "The whole idea is to empower them to participate in their own medical care and give them the opportunity to ask questions about different topics," explained social worker Jackie Duron. Couples do not have to be romantically involved, Duron emphasized. "But we do want them to at least be friends. Both should be willing to come and learn about pregnancy and preparing for the baby and parenting. That's one of the long-term goals—to help them create a stable family so that if they do not remain romantically linked, they can continue to co-parent and both be involved in the child's life." Prenatal is 'magic' time"This is the magic time to get them on solid footing," echoed Gilbert Chavez, Program Director with the Attorney General's Office. "The program is achieving what we had hoped, which is bringing couples into the prenatal environment and introducing prenatal care in a new way." The Attorney General's Office and the Baylor Teen Health Clinic developed the idea for the program collaboratively, Chavez said, and then applied for a grant from the Administration for Children and Families, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. "The program is achieving what we had hoped, which is bringing couples into the prenatal environment and introducing prenatal care in a new way," Chavez said. "It is important to the Attorney General that we look at the role fathers can play. We have done that through a number of programs, but this was the first involving the prenatal environment." Bringing men in at this stage helps men develop a strong family connection, Chavez said. That is important whether or not the couples stay together. Chavez gives several presentations to the groups in the program, talking with them about topics such as establishing paternity, child support and the role of the father. There are certainly challenges in getting young men involved in the program, noted Ozie Wilhite, another social worker who works with the program. One obstacle is conflicts with work schedules. Another is getting men past their apprehensions about sharing personal information. Getting creative to draw young men"We have to be creative to really get the guys to participate," Wilhite said. "They hear 'group' and there is an immediate discomfort, and we also don't want them to think it's like a school environment because that won't draw them in." To encourage participation, the program provides incentives to the couples based on the number of sessions they attend. Just for signing up for the program, they receive a $10 gift card. Then the men and women each earn another $20 gift cards for every three sessions in which they participate. Their last session is a baby shower, where they receive all sorts of baby items like diapers and bottles. Teresa Tovar and Ramon Cabrera form a young couple who started the program in March. Their baby is due at the end of July. Eighteen-year-old Tovar said she joined the program because she thought it would be interesting and educational. She's also found the sessions to be fun thanks to the interaction with the other couples. As for Cabrera, Tovar said, "He must really like the program, because he keeps going back." "I really believe that the couples who stick with this program all the way through would do so even without the incentives," Wilhite said. "They're willing to step up to the role of being parents. For some of them, it is about breaking free from what they know. Maybe they grew up in a single-parent family or their father or mother was in and out of the picture. A lot of them say they don't want to be like their fathers or like their mothers." Young men are also eager to use the program's employment services, Wilhite said. Resources offered include helping them write resumes and improve their interviewing skills. The employment service matches them with jobs that best suit their interests and abilities. Medical careMen are also encouraged to transition from Strong Start Stable Families to the Fatherhood Initiative, a similar program that offers support and resources to young fathers. Funded by the local philanthropic organization Houston Endowment, it takes care of their health and medical needs at specialized male clinics. Women are initially drawn to the program because they need medical care, Duron said. They get their regular check-ups during their 12 sessions and also receive pregnancy care at one of the Teen Health Clinic sites. They may choose to deliver at Ben Taub General Hospital or, through a partnership between the clinic and the BCM Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, they can deliver at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Women can continue their medical care at the Baylor Teen Health Clinics until they are 23. While they often start out with many questions about pregnancy and labor, their focus often shifts to their relationship with the baby's father and parenting concerns, Duron said. Research componentWhile the support and resources offered have the goal of helping young couples lay the foundation for a stable relationship, there is also a research component to the program, said Ruth Buzi, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Assistant Professor and Director of Social Services at the Baylor Teen Health Clinic. In addition to the treatment group based on the Centering Pregnancy model, the program includes a control group that does not get any intervention and a low-treatment group that gets only educational materials and information resources, but not any kind of significant intervention. The plan is to assess whether the treatment group that gets all the intervention will show better outcomes in regard to relationships and child outcomes, explained Buzi. The program is funded for three years, but Smith and Buzi hope that success will bring stable financial support. "The Attorney General's Office has really worked with us in terms of evaluating what it will take to get young fathers in a better position to be able to support their children. And this is just another opportunity to learn what can be done to really provide young fathers with better opportunities to be involved in the child's life," Smith said. |
FeaturesTreatments on the Horizon: Chapter and Verse on a Brain Killer Two Brains are Better than One SpotlightCaring for Community at Home and Abroad Injecting a Little Scientist in Every Doctor Designing a Building in the Eyes of a Researcher Laser Treatments Best Left up to Doctors BriefsFalls in Elderly Indicate Illness Findings may Increase Survival after Injuries Some Like it Hot! Structure of Receptor for Chili Pepper and Pain Revealed Beware of Drinking Margaritas in the Sun Development/AlumniBCM Family Participates in Fundraising Campaign BCM Alums take D.C. Fellowships Seed Funding Leads to Breakthroughs Father, Daughter Team up for Health Care
Steps to Discovery and Innovation 
Dad development: Prenatal care that caters to non-traditional young parents, like Tyrone Bradley and Yamesha Harris, helps dads feel comfortable and stay involved. 
 |
||
Volume 4, Issue 2, Summer 2008 |
|||
 |
|
BCM Home | BCM Intranet | Privacy Notices | Contact BCM | BCM Site Map © 2005-2010 Baylor College of Medicine® |
|
| Last modified: October 7, 2008 |
Infants and young children thrive developmentally, emotionally and physically when they have two parents who are actively involved in their lives.