RCHC Community Project Abstracts

Back to subject search page or search by preceptor site Connecting At Risk Infants with Community Resources: Reducing abuse, neglect, and crime Project Date: 3/16/2009 Child abuse is a tragic, costly, and persistent problem; the primacy of infancy implies that these events will follow a child through the rest of his/her life. In the current economy the local population of Jefferson County has been hit hard, particularly with unemployment as major industries have closed their doors. At times like these the risk to children climbs and the need for child abuse prevention is more acute. A local program, the Ellsbury-Read Project, is trying to effect this change through new parent education on brain development in addition to promoting character development through the rest of childhood. The intention of my project is to add materials to the project to allow teaming with medical professionals. I had four main end points: 1) A simple refresher card (Spanish, and English) for new parents based a on brain development DVD the program has to show parents before discharge that will be dispensed at WCC, 2) A review of the most recent literature regarding the complications of abuse/neglect on the developing mind, particularly the hyper-sensitization of the HPA axis, 3) a complete succinct list of community resources for at-risk infants 0-2y.o. explaining services and restrictions, 4) an addendum with risk factors and programs specific info, to either add or attach to current WCC forms, was the final end point. All final products were given to the project and clinic for use as desired. Juniper Junction Relief Nursery: Child Abuse Prevention in Jefferson County Project Date: 8/4/2008 Juniper Junction Relief nursery is a new organization developing in Madras, Oregon, to address the serious matter of child abuse in Jefferson County. According to the county website, in 2006, Jefferson County’s rate of child abuse was 10.5 per 1000 compared to 6.9 per 1000 in the state, and approximately half of the victims were under six years of age. Further outlined is the epidemic of alcohol and drug abuse in the county, the high rates of poverty and the effect these have on children and their health. Juniper Junction Relief Nursery’s main goal is to assist families with multiple risk factors for child abuse by providing therapeutic classrooms for children 0-5 years old, home visits from teachers, and parent education classes. The organization hopes to follow the Eugene relief nursery’s lead in also offering basic needs support, drug and alcohol support groups, respite care, mental health services and Latino outreach. All of the classes and support revolve around the family and keeping families together in a healthy, safe environment. After learning of Juniper Junction Relief Nursery, I attended a council meeting and interviewed different members to find out what needs they had and what I could do to help address them. After these interviews, a tour of the facility, review of the classes to be offered, and research of the original program out of Eugene, it was decided that pediatric health brochures based off of a class that will be offered, called, “What to do when your child gets sick” was the way I could best help advance the development of the nursery. I created 10 brochures in English and 10 brochures in Spanish that address basic healthcare concerns many parents, especially first time parents, seem to have. I also translated a Tylenol dosing chart into Spanish, that the clinic and the relief nursery both felt was needed. The main goal of the brochures is to help educate parents on the health problems their children may face and provide a source for the relief nursery to reach out to both the English and Spanish speaking population in the county. Ideally, these brochures and the knowledge provided to parents prevents unneeded emergency room visits and clinic visits for children. Primary Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse in Coos County, Oregon Project Date: 10/15/2007 Child abuse is a significant problem in Coos County, OR, where child abuse and neglect rates are persistently higher than average for the state of Oregon. Despite the high prevalence of child abuse, there are no primary prevention programs that educate and empower adults to prevent child abuse. This project focused on creating a primary prevention program to aid adults in preventing child sexual abuse. With the assistance of the Coos County Child Advocacy Center, I created educational materials that met three goals. First, the program helps disseminate information about child sexual abuse and increases awareness. Second, the program teaches parents and organizations that serve youth actions they can take to prevent child sexual abuse. Third, the program teaches adults how to recognize and report child sexual abuse. The ultimate goal of this program is to help adults in the Coos County area decrease the incidence of child sexual abuse. Parental safety education for infant children and implementation of the Baby Safe program in Coos County, OR Project Date: 2/12/2007 There are high rates of child abuse and neglect in Coos County, Oregon. Struggling industry and associated poverty, along with difficulties associated with resource accessibility in rural Coos County have contributed to the problem. Although poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, and low education levels will continue in the community, education of mothers regarding infant safety may help to reduce the burden of child abuse and neglect. Working with the Bay Area Hospital MOMS program and the Bay Clinic pediatricians, I updated and developed an electronic program for the new Baby Safe program, a class for mothers designed to educate them how to safely care for their infant children from birth to one year of age. Along with the Baby Safe presentation, I provided local pediatricians and their staff with an overview of National, County, and hospital-based resources for educating and supporting mothers Child abuse/neglect trens, domestic violence/sexual abuse victims and resources available in Grant County Project Date: 8/18/2003 Child abuse and domestic violence are prevalent in all 36 Oregon Counties. This study addressed the higher incidence of child abuse in Grant County and the lack of resources available to help domestic violence victims in this community. Using several sources of information the study found that Oregon child abuse reports have increased 10.9% in 2002 over one year period., whereas the number of victims increased 2.3%. Over the past three years Grant County has had greater victim rate/1000 as compared to Oregon. In 2002 Oregon's child abuse victim rate/1000 was 9.7, a decline from the 2000's 12.2/1000. In the other hand Grant County ranked eighth out of 36 counties in Oregon in number of victims/1000 in 2002 with 17.7, a slight increase from the 2000's 16/1000. Grant County ranked as the worst County in percent of children that re-enter foster care within 12 month of leaving foster care, and ranked second as worst stability of child foster care placement during the April-June 2002 period. Child Abuse: Screening and Prevention Among the Urban Underserved Project Date: 5/5/2003 Every year there are about 3 million cases of suspected child abuse reported to child protective services. 1000-2000 children die each year from child abuse. The risk factors for child abuse are numerous. The number one risk factor associated with child abuse most frequently is poverty. Since the clinic I worked at in SE Portland serves mainly those in poverty, I decided to look at child abuse screening programs within the Portland area. Also, there was a general lack of knowledge concerning community programs among providers at the SE clinic. My job was to spend one day a week with various community programs that exist to screen/prevent child abuse and report my findings so that physicians in the SE clinic may know how to access important resources for at risk children and families. Good Touch, Bad Touch: Addressing the Problem of Child Abuse in Coos Bay. Project Date: 11/5/2001 Child abuse and neglect is a significant problem nationwide with over 1 million reported cases each year. For the past two years, Coos County has had the highest child abuse rates in the state of Oregon. In spite of these significant statistics, little is being done in Coos County in terms of primary and secondary prevention. The purpose of my community project was to bring a program into the schools that would address prevention of child abuse. Through research of resources, in collaboration with school nursing staff, I was able to develop a ready-made program for the school nurses to present to children in both the primary and intermediate grades. The program addresses good touches and bad touches, and instructs children on how to seek help if they are touched in a way that makes them feel sad or uncomfortable. The goal of this project is to reduce incidence of child abuse in Coos County by educating and empowering children. 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