Healthy Start New Orleans provides services to residents of Orleans Parish who are pregnant or parenting children under the age of two. Healthy Start promotes healthy communities by nurturing healthy pregnancies, healthy babies, and healthy families.
Healthy Start projects address multiple issues, including:
- Providing adequate prenatal care
- Promoting positive prenatal health behaviors
- Meeting basic health needs (nutrition, housing, psychosocial support)
- Reducing barriers to access
- Enabling client empowerment
The services offered by Healthy Start New Orleans include:
Case Management: Healthy Start links families to primary medical care, social services agencies such as WIC, DCFS, GED/Higher Education and Job 1, and mental health and counseling services. Support services including one on one education, support groups, and resource and referral assistance.
Health Education: Healthy Start provides prenatal and parenting classes two days a week at two locations in New Orleans.
Outreach: Healthy Start reaches out to women and families who may be eligible for our services through community events, targeting businesses, and door-to-door canvassing.
Best Babies Zone: in partnership with the Hollygrove Community Development Corporation, and the LSU Health Sciences Center, Healthy Start seeks to improve health, education, economic, social and community systems in the Hollygrove neighborhood by identifying community needs and bringing together resources from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to meet those needs.
Teen Program: Healthy Start provides support to expecting teen mothers and fathers during their pregnancy with services such as educational options, summer employment through Job One, WIC services, public assistance and homebound education services. Case Managers provide resources and referrals and support teens in advocating for their children and developing healthy relationships. In addition, we offer support groups on building healthy relationships, peer pressure, teen domestic violence, increasing support systems, learning about community resources and career education.
To carry out these activities, Healthy Start staff should be competent in a range of public health and maternal and child health areas. The practicum student will conduct a needs assessment of staff in these areas.
Through this practicum, the student will:
- Describe the functions and processes of a local Healthy Start program
- Research national standards and best practices for Healthy Start programs and the efforts of other organizations in meeting the goals of Healthy Start
- Develop an assessment tool for local Healthy Start employees
- Develop a core orientation program for Healthy Start staff
- Develop a list of resources to fill knowledge and skills gaps and a structure within which to complete them
This practicum will be preceptored by Healthy Start staff. To apply, please send:
- a resume
- cover letter, and
- your draft learning objectives
to Shokufeh Ramirez (sramirez@tulane.edu) by Monday, May 13.
This position is open to any Tulane MPH student. Funding is contingent on the following qualifications: enrollment in the GCHB department and US citizen or permanent resident. Preference is given to those in the MCH concentration.
