Health Department

CHILD HEALTH AWARENESS PROJECT (CHAP)

October 1999 - June 2003

The Child Health Awareness Project (CHAP) was an Orange County Health Department initiative that sought to improve the health awareness and health behaviors of Orange County families with children ages 0 - 5 years old, by promoting new and existing health education/promotion activities, and linking identified families to community resources.

CHAP family

In operation from October 1999 - June 2003, CHAP's focus and methods were guided by community input. Initial project efforts focused on families who were the most disadvantaged in terms of access to information and services, namely Latino immigrant families, who by Census 2000 standards, comprised 12% of Carrboro, and 4.5% of the County's population. In Fall 2002, CHAP also reached out to undeserved minority English-speaking families in Northern Orange County.

CHAP's main activities centered on the following:

Child Health Promoters

CHAP trained 29 Latina Child Health Promoters in northern and southern Orange County, and 7 African-American Promoters in the north. The volunteer promoters provide health and safety information to Spanish-speaking families with young children, and connect them to local resources such as immunization, car seats, dental care, and Health Check/Health Choice. The Promoters have also been active in informing the community via print, radio and TV media. They appeared on "Ojos Latinos" on the Peoples Channel, "Cita Dominical" on 90.7FM, and in articles from newspapers such as Nuestro Pueblo, Que Pasa, and La Conexion.

child safety in the home

Fotonovela

The Latina Promoters also developed two fotonovelas, bilingual photo-story booklets that teach low literacy families about child safety in the home. The Chapel Hill/Carrboro group developed and published Child Safety in the Kitchen/Seguridad para Niños en la Cocina, in 2001; and the Hillsborough/Cedar Grove Group completed another fotonovela in 2002 on poisoning prevention, entitled: You can protect your family!/ ¡Tú Puedes Proteger a Tu Familia! Copies of the fotonovelas are located throughout the county. CD versions of the fotonovela can be loaned out to health departments interested in making their own copies.

fotonovela group

Community Events and Collaboration

CHAP Promoters and staff also participated in popular community events, such as La Fiesta del Pueblo, La Feria de la Salud, Smart Start Family Fest, and Octoberfest in Efland. At such events, promoters provided child health information and referrals to families with young children. In lieu of a fotonovela, the 2002 CHAP promoters opted to plan and hold a successful community safety fair and bike rodeo at a local church, Mt. Bright Baptist in Hillsborough. CHAP also provided health education classes throughout the county and collaborated a great deal with community agencies, including El Centro Latino in Carrboro, the Northern Orange Family Resource Center in Cedar Grove, Piedmont Health Services, and churches.

bike rodeo

Injury Prevention

CHAP worked very closely with Orange County SAFE KIDS and Safe Communities, providing car seat education and provision to Orange County families in need. The CHAP coordinator is bilingual in Spanish and English, and is a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician.

As a result of CHAP efforts, hundreds of previously hard-to-reach families have been educated about important ways to keep their children safe and healthy, and have accessed needed services. In September 2001, CHAP received an honorable mention during the GlaxoSmithKline Child Health Recognition Awards. In October 2001, CHAP received the "Outstanding Health Education Project Award" from the NC Chapter of the Society for Public Health Education, the "Golden Project Award" from the NCPHA Health Education Section in October 2002, and an Achievement Award from NACo in June 2003. Please contact the former CHAP coordinator for more information about child health and safety issues or the CHAP project.

2000-2001 promoters 2001-2002 promoters

2000-2001 Promoters, Chapel Hill/Carrboro 2001-2002 Promoters, Hillsborough/Cedar Grove

2002-2003 promoters

2002-2003 Promoters, Northern Orange

CHAP image

CHAP received funds from the Orange County Partnership for Young Children, the local Smart Start agency, and was an Orange County Health Department initiative. The previous CHAP coordinator currently works on other Latino Health Promotion efforts.