Pro-Change has received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to develop a computer-based tailored intervention to promote healthy behaviors during pregnancy. The pilot program will be conducted in July and August 2008 at sites of the Community Health Center, Inc., one of the leading health care providers in Connecticut.
Focus groups and interviews with underserved pregnant women and key informants are guiding the development of an intervention that is acceptable, medically accurate, and easily disseminated. The intervention is based on the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change, which matches change principles and processes to each person’s stage readiness to guide individuals through the change process. It is designed to promote the adoption and maintenance of healthy behaviors among pregnant women, ultimately for use in health clinics and provider offices throughout the country, as well as health promotion and wellness organizations.
The intervention will address three important behaviors for a healthy pregnancy: smoking cessation and maintenance, stress management, and healthy eating, with an emphasis on fruit and vegetable consumption. The intervention content will assist women with behavior changes during pregnancy, with an emphasis on strategies for sustaining behavior changes postpartum.
One of the specific aims of the program is to assess the most cost-effective and acceptable methods for disseminating the proposed intervention. Input from leaders in maternal and child health, and the disease management industry including Healthways, Inc. will help identify dissemination channels.
Roughly 100 participants are being recruited from the Community Health Center, Inc. of Connecticut. Leanne Mauriello, Ph.D. the principal investigator of the grant stated that, “A population-based, healthy pregnancy behavioral intervention suite based on scientific and theoretical underpinnings and designed for broad and flexible dissemination provides an innovative approach to supporting maternal and child health.”