Golden Project Award Given to Health Educator

"The Child Heath Awareness Program has been very empowering for Latino women in the community to help them to reach out to families similar to their own," said Donna King, health promotion and education services division director of the Orange County Health Department. "We are very proud of the work that has been accomplished."

The Golden Project Award is given to influential public health projects that have been in action for at least two years and were either developed or implemented by a health educator.

The goal of CHAP is to improve the health awareness and practices of Orange County families with young children and includes a child health promoter program, a "fotonovela" project and the distribution of child health and safety information and supplies.

"This was my first job out of graduate school," said Clifford, "and it's been the perfect job for me."

When developing the program, Clifford decided to target the local Latino population because she identified them as the most disadvantaged, difficult-to-reach group in the area.

"Susan has a passion for working with the Latino community, and it shows in the respect that they show her," said King.

"I feel so honored to be able to work with this community," said Clifford.

Using members of the Latino community's ideas, she created a lay health adviser -- a child health promoter -- program within the community to help parents raise healthy families.

Clifford begins by locating Latino women known as natural leaders in their community and trains them about child health topics, said King. They meet for 16 classes taught in Spanish and graduate with a diploma as a child health promoter.

"These women are trained to go out into the community armed with information," King said. The 29 trained women advise and assist their peers and help them get necessary resources. If a child health promoter needs health resources, such as car seats, for their community members, they refer to Clifford, who helps them obtain these resources.

The program is designed to facilitate families with children up to age 5 but "goes beyond these boundaries and reaches out to all member of the family," said King.

CHAP also incorporates a "fotonovela" project. A fotonovela is similar to a comic book but uses actual pictures of people with conversation bubbles in both Spanish and English.

Within the brochure a story unfolds to teach a lesson about family safety, said King. For example, one fotonovela teaches community members about poison prevention for their children.

The most rewarding aspect of CHAP for Clifford has been "watching the personal growth of the health promoters and how their confidence has grown," Clifford said. "It's made a positive impact on their self-esteems."

Many of the child health promoters have appeared on Spanish talk shows and have become an indispensible component of their communities.

Clifford clearly stood out from other candidates, King said. "Anybody who knows Susan knows that she does not have an eight-to-five job. She serves beyond her hours to work with her families."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.