Knowledge is power
By AMY HANSEN — CNA staff reporter
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| Contributed photo
From left, MATURA Headstart staff Elizabeth Green, Jenni Garrett and Kathy Hall learn how to effectively use and read a thermometer from UCLA Health Care Institute training in Atlanta. |
In the winter months with flu season and other viruses running rampant, parents worry about their child’s health.
According to Elizabeth Green, Family Support Coordinator from MATURA Headstart, this can often lead to families making unnecessary trips to the emergency room.
“They end up going to the ER for a really low temperature like 99-degrees because they don’t know what else to do,” Green said.
MATURA Headstart is introducing a program fr om the UCLA Health Care Institute for their families on how to identity when a child’s illness is an emergency and when it’s not.
“It’s about when can you keep your child at home, give them a little bit of Tylenol, and wait and see what happens,” Green said. “Or when you should take them to a doctor or nurse.”
Training
In October, five staff from MATURA Headstart, Green, Julie Lang, Kathy Hall, Merle Walter and Jenni Garrett attended Health Care Institute training in Atlanta. The training’s topic was how parents can keep their children healthy.
It was the only Headstart from Iowa to attend the training. Out of 100 applicants, only 23 were selected.
Lang, MATURA Headstart program director, said the local program is funded from a grant from the Headstart office, but it is also a collaborative project with UCLA and Johnson and Johnson.
MATURA Headstart will host its own meeting for families Jan. 26 at Trinity Lutheran Church. Green said she expects 100 families and the theme for the night will tropical or Hawaiian.
“Our overall goal is just to get our parents involved in general,” Lang said. “By coming to meetings and activities, they play a big part in their child’s education.”
Necessary transportation and childcare will be provided to families for the meeting.
“Whatever it takes to get the families to come is what we will do,” Lang said.
Knowledge
Families who attend will receive the free informational book “What To Do When Your Child Gets Sick,” by Gloria Mayer, R.N., and Ann Kuklierus, R.N.
Each illness in the book is divided into sections on what it is, what can be seen, what to do at home, and when to finally take the child to the emergency room.
Green said the reading comprehension level for the book is easy and anyone can understand it.
“We’re teaching them how to care for their families at home,” Lang said, “versus just running to the ER.”
Green said since the program focuses on health education and preventative tips, it should save families and the government money. If done effectively, parents will be missing fewer days at work and sending children to the emergency room less.
“Employers should benefit from this as well,” Green said. “A lot of our families that are working, are working in factories.”
Statistics
According to the UCLA Health Care Institute, parents who used the program and follow-up training sessions reduced the number of unnecessary trips to the emergency room by 58 percent, visits to a clinic for common illnesses like a cold, cough or mild fever by 42 percent and number of lost days at work by 42 percent.
Missed days at school for children also dropped by 29 percent.
“The average annual savings per family per year is $554,” Green said.
Green and Lang both agreed the best part of the program is to keep children healthy and parents aware and responsible.
“I think it’s a really helpful thing for any parent,” Lang said.
