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Teen Pregnancy Prevention Committee reaching out
 Since July 2009, 85 young people have participated in the "Making Proud Choices" program, said Cindy Taylor-Lisenby, co-chairman of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Committee.
Taylor-Lisenby and Bonnie Morgan were selected as co-chairs at the Healthy Ansonians' Nov. 18 meeting. Former chair Subrina Hough had resigned due to taking a new job.
Taylor-Lisenby and Caroline Hightower have presented the program to area churches and organizations such as the Girl Scouts, Taylor-Lisenby said. The program urges abstinence first and comdom usage second.
"We are selling the message hard," Taylor-Lisenby said, "but we need help from the community to meet young people."
Taylor-Lisenby noted that parents are behind "Making Proud Choices." When she asked participants why they attended, most said their parents "made them."
A training session in October, "Parents Matter," aimed at reaching parents of children 9-12 years old and getting the parents comfortable with discussing tough topics -- sexuality, drinking, drugs -- with their chidlren. The program "makes parents define their values," Taylor-Lisenby said.
Fred Thompson, Ph.D., co-chairman of the Healthy Ansonians Task Force with Dr. Francis Kateh, said that it is an ongoing issue to reach young people who are not involved in any organization or church.
Kateh noted that "the breakthrough will be when we can get into the school system."
"We can't stop teens from having sex, but we can stop 11- and 12-year-olds," Thompson said.
Younger girls are more often made pregnant by a sibling or an older male and the situation should be reported to the authorities, Taylor-Lisenby said.
Girls are also "sexualized" by observed behavior in the home or in the media.
Kaye Ratliff, former director of Sandhills Mental Health, added that one of three girls and one of seven boys are sexually molested before the age of 18.
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Diabetes, obesity go hand-in-hand
 Paula Stegall reported on the Obesity Committee's activities in the absence of co-chairs Shirley Hardin, Cynthia Furr and Cary Rodgers.
Stegall said that although Anson Community Hospital had discontinued the Parish Nurse Program this year, the diabetes management part of the PNP is still doing pre-diabetic screenings at churches as a part of a Kate B. Reynolds grant.
Stegall said that 289 people had gone through the program, including 75 in the past week. This year, 323 people have been officially screened, of which 114 participated in Class I and 66 in Class II; and 51 completed their 90-day assessment.
The screenings are sustained though Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance, Stegall said.
The Obesity Committee is in the process of applying for a grant for an obesity program that will fit in with the diabetes program, she said.
 Carolyn Solomon added that there are barriers to people getting into such programs, such as lack of transportation, cultural or ethnic diversity, lack of knowledge, lack of resources, and religious, biological or psychological bias.
Solomon praised the "Divine Design" wellness program now taking place in Morven that emphasizes nutrition, exercise and behavioral changes as well as "a covenant with God."
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Eat Smart program offered to public
Did you make a New Year’s resolution to eat healthier, exercise more, lose some weight, or a combination of these? If so, Cooperative Extension may have just the program for you!
Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less, a weight management program developed by
the NC Cooperative Extension and the NC Division of Public Health, will be offered starting in February.
Classes will meet at the Cooperative Extension Center during the lunch hour. Janine Rywak, County Extension Director, will instruct the class. Cost for the 15-week program is $25.
Eat Smart Move More Weigh Less explores behaviors and strategies to help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight. Each session will include an educational component, exercise time, personal weigh-in, and a weekly challenge.
The program uses strategies proven to work. Participants will meet in a friendly, supportive environment and receive resource materials to help in their individual goals.
Each lesson informs, empowers and motivates participants to live mindfully as
they make choices about eating and physical activity. The program provides opportunities for participants to track their progress and keep a journal of healthy eating and physical activity behaviors.
A free orientation about the program will be offered on Tuesday, February 2 at 12:00 noon at the Cooperative Extension Center at 501 McLaurin Street. Class details and guidelines will be shared at that time, as well as proposed meeting schedules.
To sign up for orientation, or register for the 15-week program, contact the Cooperative Extension Center at 704-694-2915. Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less is part of the Eat Smart, Move More…NC movement to increase opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity wherever North Carolinians live, learn, earn, play and pray.
Find out more at www.EatSmartMoveMoreNC.com.
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Fred Thompson (center), Ph.D., Anson Community Hospital administrator and co-chair of the Healthy Ansonians Task Force, receives the Recertification Award from Jeff Spade (left), chairman of the Governor’s Task Force for Healthy Carolinians, and Debi Nelson, interim director of the Office of Healthy Carolinians and Health Education. |
Thompson accepts recertification award
The Governor’s Task Force for Healthy Carolinians awarded Healthy Ansonians its fourth recertification as a Healthy Carolinians partnership during the 17th Annual Healthy Carolinians Conference held Oct. 8, in Greensboro.
"We are proud of the fact that the Healthy Ansonians Task Force has been certified since 1996, making it one of the oldest in the state," said Fred Thompson, Ph.D., Healthy Ansonians Task Force co-chairman. "We have accomplished much over the years, but we also realize that we have much to do going forward in our efforts to reduce the rates of obesity and teen pregnancy in Anson County."
Debi Nelson, interim director, Office of Healthy Carolinians and Health Education, told Thompson, "Congratulations for a great year. Your partnership deserves this special recognition for all the hard work and dedication to working on health issues in your county. It is partnerships such as yours that will help North Carolina become the healthiest state in the nation."
Healthy Carolinians is based on the concept that community members are the most qualified to effectively prioritize the health and safety problems in their community and to plan and excute creative solutions to these problems. Recertification for Healthy Ansonians means that the local partnership continues to be a vital component of a network of 76 other certified partnerships across North Carolina whose mission is to improve the health of all North Carolinians.
Healthy Ansonians has identified obesity and teen pregnancy as focus areas, established objectives and targets, and developed action plans and interventions that will improve the health of residents in Anson County. In order for Healthy Ansonians to receive recertification, the partnership must submit an extensive application to the Governors Task Force for Healthy Carolinians. The Governor's Task Force has developed a set of rigorous standards, based on community health improvement, which all partnerships must meet in order to be certified or recertified.
The Healthy Ansonians partnership received its recertification plaque from Jeff Spade, the chairman of the Governor's Task Force. Spade recognized Healthy Ansonians as "an essential component to the improvement of overall health for the citizens of North Carolina." Over 275 people, including members of the Governor's Task Force, local health partnerships and health constituents, were in attendance.
Dr. Thompson is the administrator at Anson Community Hospital and co-chairs the task force Dr. Francis Kateh, the director of the Anson County Health Department.
For more information, call Dr. Thompson at 704.695.3401 or visit www.healthyansonians.org.
To read the recertification committee's entire report, please click here.
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Members hear Action Plan updates at October meeting |
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Members of the Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Obesity committees shared the Action Plans they submitted as part of the Healthy Ansonians recertification packet. Members of the committees then told of activities they had been involved in that were included in the plans.
Teen Pregnancy Prevention:
Bonnie Morgan, Anson County Partnership for Children (ACPC) TIPS director said that the Teen Information and Parenting Services program had nine girls to graduate from high school this year. TIPS is a program that seeks to prevent second pregnancies and works with pregnant girls or mothers with one child. The participants must be enrolled in school. Services include contraceptive information, intervention if needed, transportation, and obtaining child care subsidies from the Department of Social Services. She said the state rate for repeat pregnancies is 34%; it is 5% for graduates of the TIPS program.
School Nurse Sarah Dean said that outreach is being done with parents to teach them how to talk to their children about sex and pregnancy. She noted that House Bill 88 does not become effective until the next school year, so comprehensive sex education is not yet being taught in the schools.
| Elaine Scarborough, ACPC executive director, said "Making Proud Choices" is a primary intervention tool that
gets better results than former programs and can be taught in a shorter time, thus including more participants. Cindy Lisenby-Taylor, program director, said that so far, 50 youths at five sites have been through the program and the feedback has been good. She said ACPC hopes to double that number soon.
Obesity:
Cynthia Furr, Diabetes Educator at Anson Community Hospital, said that screenings are being done at food pantries with the help of nursing students from Richmond and South Piedmont community colleges. The screenings are funded by a Kate B. Reynolds grant.
Shirley Hardin, Anson County Health Department Health Educator, said that so far 15 day care centers had been trained in nutrition and physical assessments. She cited the Eat Smart-Move More program and said that day cares have agreed to serve more fruits and vegetables and alway have fresh water accessible to the children. Another program, Color Me Healthy, has children going through the physical motions of an imaginary trip to the beach or hiking.
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Dr. Donna Breitenstein discusses the most common causes of unwanted pregnancies among teenagers and why they choose to engage in what adults consider risky behavior. |
'Sex education' on table at May meeting
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The Healthy Ansonians Task Force met in the fellowship hall at First Presbyterian Church, Wadesboro, on May 19. Dr. Donna Breitenstein of Appalachian State University and director of the N.C. Comprehensive School Health Training Center addressed the issue of teen pregnancy, an initiative that Healthy Ansonians will be focusing on in the next four years. Breitenstein also is a member of the N.C. Institute of Medicine’s Task Force on Adolescent Health.
Teen pregnancy declined 38 per cent between 1990 and 2004, Breitenstein said, but at the same time the numbers of STDs (sexually transmitted diseases) was going up because teens were engaging in anal and oral sex to prevent pregnancy. The number of teen pregnancies has begun to rise again, “but we don’t know why. It’s a complicated issue,” Breitenstein said.
Every 28 minutes a North Carolina teen becomes pregnant; 404 girls ages 10-14 became pregnant in North Carolina in 2007, she said. By their senior year, 70 per cent of teens are sexually active.
Breitenstein said that a 2009 parent opinion survey released by the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina shows that 91.8 per cent of N.C, parents believe that sexuality education should be taught in schools; of these, 93.5 per cent think that public health professionals should choose what is taught. (Visit www.APPCNC.org to read the entire report.)
By law, N. C. schools must teach seventh grade students about condoms; and eighth graders must be taught all methods of contraception. Both focus on effectiveness and failure rate.
The current legislative mandate is to teach abstinence as the best and most certain way to prevent unintended pregnancy. Only one abstinence curriculum, Making a Difference, has been shown to delay sexual activity, and that only by months. And, Breitenstein said, teens who take the virginity pledge are just as likely to have sex and less likely to get protection.
House Bill 88, which has passed the House and is now in the Senate, would allow parents to choose from an evidence-based
| comprehensive curriculum that includes abstinence (“sex education”), an abstinence-based curriculum, or opting their child out of the program. Twelve school systems in the state already teach comprehensive sex education, Breitenstein said, because local boards of education approved the curriculum following a public hearing.
Breitenstein handed out check lists for Task Force members. One asked for the top five reasons many teens are sexually active. Choices were: peer pressure; confusion of love and sex or to be loved; “bragging rights”; curiosity; alcohol or drug use (being under the influence of drugs or to get drugs); imitation of adults (rite of passage); influence of media (“sex sells”); lack of supervision; low self-esteem; to get or keep a boyfriend/girlfriend; it feels good; and hormones.
A second check list asked why teens took risks that might result in pregnancy or STDs. Members could choose the top five of ten: personal fable (“It can’t happen to me”); lack of information; misconceptions; failure of product (usually human error); belief that the product will not work; desire to get pregnant/have baby; risk-taking; lack of access (or perceived lack of access) to birth control; fear of side effects; rebellion; perception that contraception will interfere with pleasure, spontaneity; and failure to believe they have a fulfilling future.
While no definitive top five were selected, members were made aware that the issue is, indeed, complicated. Most parents and educators agree on the importance of preventing unintended pregnancies and reducing the risk of STDs, and agree that children should be taught about and encouraged to have healthy, loving, committed relationships. The area of disagreement lies in the issue of safer sex. Breitenstein said that there is no evidence that talking about sexuality, disease prevention or contraception equates to giving permission.
To read more about the goals of school-based sexuality education, and how these programs differ, HERE.
To read the Family Life/Sexuality Objectives in the 2006 N.C. Standard Course of Study in Healthful Living, Click HERE.
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Members of the Healthy Ansonians Steering Committee selected March 18 are, from left, Shirley Hardin, Fred Thompson, Ph.D., Marla Smith (guest), Cary Rogers, Dr. Francis Kateh, Paula Stegall, Denise Dunn, Jeania Martin and Cynthia Furr. Not pictured, Subrina Hough. |
Healthy Ansonians elect new committee chairmen
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The Healthy Ansonians Task Force disbanded its eight subcommittees and elected chairmen to lead two new committees, or task forces, in the next four years.
The change came about as the result of a decision made at the January meeting when members were asked if they wanted to reorganize or disband. Task Force members elected by a one-vote majority to continue, but to concentrate on just two focus areas. These are obesity and teen pregnancy prevention. (The subcommittees dropped were STDs, Substance Abuse, Maternal and Child Health, Injury Control, Asthma Coalition, Parish Nurse and Health Ministries, Mobile Health Screening Clinic and Anson County Physical Activity and Nutrition Coalition [ACPAN].)
Fred Thompson, Ph.D., 2009 Healthy Ansonians Task Force co-chairman and CEO of Anson Community Hospital (ACH), said that the Asthma Coalition, Parish Nurse and Health Ministries, and Mobile Screening Clinic would continue under the hospital's ongoing programs. ACPAN, associated with the Anson County Health Department, will work with the Obesity Task Force, and Maternal and Child Health, guided by Anson County Partnership for Children, will work with the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Task Force.
Subrina Hough, Director of Sandhills Transitional Housing, will lead the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Task Force. Cynthia Furr, Coordinator of Parish Nurse and Health Ministries, will chair the Obesity Task Force; Shirley Hardin, Health Educator at the Anson County Health Department (ACHD) and Cary Rogers, Minister of Pathway to Peace, will act as co-chairmen.
Marla Smith, M.Ed., Piedmont Regional Consultant with North Carolina Public Health, said the trend now is to focus on two critical areas when selecting priorities from the Healthy Carolinians 2010
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objectives rather than several as in past years. "You will be able to really address these areas and achieve results in the next three to four years," Smith said.
At Smith's suggestion, a steering committee was formed consisting of Thompson; Dr. Francis Kateh, Director of the ACHD and co-chair of the Healthy Ansonians Task Force; Denise Dunn, Executive Secretary at ACH and for the Healthy Ansonians Task Force; Furr; Hough; Jeania Martin, Director of Resource Development at ACH; and Paula Stegall, Director of Nursing Services at ACH.
Smith was present to answer questions about the Action Plans that are a part of the recertification process. The plans are due June 5, 2009.
Smith said that the Action Plans for Healthy Ansonians recertification could be the same plan submitted by the ACHD for the 2008 Community Health Assessment (see above left). The Healthy Ansonians Task Force collaborated with the ACHD in drawing up the report.
Smith gave the Task Force members samples of action plans as a guide for drawing up their plans, and suggested sites such as N.C. Nutrition and Physical Activity Surveillance System and Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System for data.
Thompson suggested that the two task forces have their completed action plans and a draft of the recertification plan ready when they meet in April. The full Healthy Ansonians Task Force will meet again on May 20.
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Task Force decides not to 'ride into the sunset'
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The Healthy Ansonians Task Force, formed in 1995 and first state-certified in 1998, will survive for another four years. The decision to apply for recertification came after vote by members at the Jan. 21 meeting, who split 50-50 for and against letting the organization's certification lapse. Fred Thompson, Ph.D., CEO of Anson Community Hospital, cast the deciding vote - for recertification. Thompson is co-chair of the task force, along with Dr. Francis Kateh, director of the Anson County Health Department.
The application for recertification is due in June 2009. Also due at this time are the action plans that Kateh must submit as a part of the Community Health Assessment, completed in December 2008.(See related articles here)
Kateh had asked for a one-month extension for submitting the assessment in order to ask the task force to help in choosing two priorities for the action plans. Kateh told the task force that one priority he would like to see pursued was chronic diseases.
Thompson suggested that members 'sunset' the task force and let the health department and the hospital take the lead role in health care. He said that the mobile screening clinic, the asthma camp and the diabetes program would still go on under the hospital's umbrella. "Let other agencies with a strong passion help," he said.
Thompson further revealed that the Anson County Healthy Ansonians received no state funding, but that Anson Community Hospital has provided all funding for the program.
Kateh expessed his concern that the task force had become a "social club", meeting every other month for lunch and discussion, with little or no follow-up action.
Linda Griffin, director of the mobile screening clinic, explained that grants from the Duke Endowment funded the clinic for its first three years, but since then the hospital has paid $150,000 a
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year to keep the clinic open.
"It is a hospital commitment and Anson Community Hospital funds it at a loss," Griffin said.
Janine Rywak, dirctor of the Anson County Cooperative Extension Center, said, "Trying times call for people to take a stand and to take action. It is logical for the hospital and the health department to draw up an initiative and call on organizations on an individual basis as needed. It is not that they are not going to do it any more, but that they will do it differently."
Sandy Huntly, director of the Lockhart-Taylor Center at South Piedmont Community College, said, "Every agency, every office around, is struggling. This is a good time to restructure and reform our objectives."
When the vote tied, Thompson cast his vote in favor of continuing the task force. However, he cautioned against letting the hospital and health department continue as lead agencies when the recertification calls for broadening leadership throughout the community. Thompson also suggesting disbanding the current task force committees and concentrating on the two priorities mandated by the community assessment process. Task force members who are not "passionate" about the two goals will be thanked for their time, and new members selected from the community.
After spirited discussion, the task force suggested obesity and teen pregnancy as priorities, saying that obesity leads to such chronic diseases as stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and heart disease; and teen pregnancy also includes risky behavior and stds.
Chairpersons for the two new committees will be selected by Cynthia Furr, Linda Jones and Shirley Hardin (obesity), and Elaine Scarborough (teen pregnancy).
The Healthy Ansonians Task Force will meet again March 18.
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