Healthy Start Program Perspectives from New Haven Healthy Start Program Participants

Download or read book Healthy Start Program Perspectives from New Haven Healthy Start Program Participants written by Nelly S. Angah and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New Haven Healthy Start Program is a 20-year-old program aiming to reduce infant mortality rates and maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the African American Community in several sites scattered throughout the United States. The primary purpose of this qualitative study was to identify participants' perceptions of the Healthy Start program based in New Haven and to link the initiative goals to its results based on the participants' accounts. The study sample was selected from the city of New Haven: Healthy Start Case Worker offices and shelter sites. The study participants' accounts were collected in a single interview format, consisting of African American women, 18 to 35 years of age, who were clients or former clients of the New Haven HS. The interview questionnaire centered on the following questions: How did the program affect the New Haven Healthy Start clients throughout their lifetimes as program participant? What were the factors that kept the New Haven Healthy Start clients in the program? The results revealed the importance of the Healthy Start workers in the shelter system and in making the program eligible clients adhere to the program by providing the necessary support in and after the shelter. Ultimately, this initiative may strengthen the program evaluation, provide more understanding into the Healthy Start Initiative's poor program outcomes and determine if the initiative from the clients' perspectives targeted their needs and fulfilled its goals.