There are dozens of organizations in St. Louis that provide services to improve the health of moms and babies, but too many people in the community don’t know where to go or how to access these services.
Since 1991, Nurses for Newborns’ home visiting nurses have helped parents by monitoring their baby’s health and providing information on how to support the baby’s development. But over time, Nurses for Newborns observed that families often needed more than medical care – they needed support accessing the many community resources that would help them raise a healthy and happy baby.
“Our nurses work with families who face many challenging situations beyond caring for a new infant,” said Melinda Ohlemiller, CEO of Nurses for Newborns and FLOURISH St. Louis cabinet member. “Some speak English as a second language, some rely on food banks to feed their families, and some are navigating the complexities of health insurance or Medicaid for the first time.”
In addition to these challenges, families may not have access to everyday resources, like reliable transportation and internet access. Without that, checking when a food pantry is open and getting there in time on the bus becomes a huge barrier.
Nurses for Newborns identified an opportunity to expand its services and better support families facing these types of challenges. Through funding from Missouri Foundation for Health, Nurses for Newborns hired community health workers to join nurses on their monthly home visits. The community health workers are often other moms in the community, enabling them to develop trusting peer-to-peer relationships. They have experience working with the same types of clinics and social service resources these families need, and proactively look for other resources that may meet a family’s unique needs. They are also multi-lingual, so families who speak Spanish, Bosnian, Vietnamese, Arabic or Kurdish can talk with a worker who understands their native language and culture.
“Community health workers help families overcome barriers they are facing – and many personally have dealt with the same issues as members of that community,” said Ohlemiller. “They might go along with a new mom to a doctor’s appointment to interpret instructions, or help her get a crib, or provide her with information about which documents she needs to bring to a food pantry to be eligible to receive food. They also call home frequently to check on the family and answer any new questions they have.”
Since introducing the community health workers in 2006, Nurses for Newborns has helped 1,743 families become more confident in accessing the resources they need. Nurses for Newborns will share its experience with the community health workers program with FLOURISH St. Louis to help shape other potential outreach.
If you or your organization want to play a role in increasing the community’s access to resources, join our Health Communication & Navigation Action Team.