PEDIATRIC ASTHMA PROJECT
CHIP’s Pediatric Asthma Project provides structured medical case management for children birth to seven diagnosed with a respiratory disease or asthma that is poorly controlled. Parents learn how to manage household asthma triggers while learning how to recognize the signs and symptoms of an impending attack.
Nurses instruct parents on how to use and manage their child’s medications (including proper dosage), how to chart peak flow days and use spacers that make the most of asthma medications.
Together with parents, nurses develop an Asthma Action Plan that provides clear, easy-to-follow instructions on managing an asthma attack. This step-by-step approach helps parents and children break an attack down in to stages with advice that make the disease less intimidating for parents and less frightening for children.
CHIP nurses also use Sesame Street educational videos to help children and parents learn more about asthma, empowering them to take control in the management of the disease through preventive measures, thus decreasing the necessity for emergency medications, emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
BEGIN WITH A GRIN DENTAL VARNISH PROGRAM
CHIP’s Begin With A Grin program is an innovative approach to providing preventive dental care to children who are most at risk for dental caries and long term dental disease.
The educational component of the program (based on the Virginia Department of Health’s “Bright Smiles for Babies” curriculum) aims to provide parents with information on proper oral hygiene, nutrition and oral health literacy in an effort to reduce high risk behaviors (pre-chewing food, sharing utensils, putting children to bed with sugary drinks) that lead to Early Childhood Caries.
Educational tools include oversized models of the teeth and gums paired with a large toothbrush which allows CHIP nurses to demonstrate proper brushing and flossing technique after which both the parent and child take turns applying the knowledge they have learned in the home visit. In addition to educational support, nurses apply semi-annual fluoride dental varnish to the teeth of CHIP-enrolled children between the ages of 6 months and 36 months who do not presently receive varnish treatments through another health care provider.
PREGNANT MOMS PROGRAM
It has been proven that organizations that provide integrated care are able to offer superior outreach and continuity of care for families living below the poverty level.
The solution for prenatal care for under-served women relies on outreach and coordination of care and non-medical interventions. CHIP’s Pregnant Moms Program gives expectant mothers better health care for themselves and their babies in order to increase birth weight, decrease infant mortality, stop high risk behaviors (including smoking, drug and alcohol use), reduce the incidence of prolonged hospital stays and decrease the number of days spent in NICU.
CHIP ensures that all pregnant women enrolled in the program are covered with health insurance through either Pregnant Medicaid or FAMIS Moms. Expectant mothers will understand and become accustomed to preventive care including regular prenatal care and specialist support for health risks such as high blood pressure and diabetes, and continue with a medical home after the birth of their babies for postpartum check-ups, regular health exams, and the treatment of pre-existing conditions.
HOPE (Helpful Opportunities for Parents to Excel)
HOPE is the result of a collaborative effort among community leaders and human service agencies. The project was initiated in 1995 by the Family Violence Coordinating Council, which formed a sub-committee to study the project's feasibility. In late 1996, initial funding was awarded through the Family and Children's Trust Fund, allowing staff to be hired.
CHIP of Roanoke Valley acts as the administering agency for HOPE. Along with access to basic health care services, children need loving homes to encourage emotional and intellectual growth. The goal of HOPE is to provide the support, encouragement and developmental education that many first-time parents need to help overcome the stresses associated with parenting in the early years of a child’s life.
Through home visits, parent group meetings and educational mailings, HOPE provides resources to all first-time parents at a time in a child’s development when parents are most receptive to new information. HOPE builds confidence in new parents as they learn to respond to their baby’s needs and promote his/her healthy development.
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES
As an early intervention program, CHIP addresses the unique mental health risks children and families in poverty face, through in-home family support and parenting education that helps lessen the detrimental effects of poverty.
Parents of CHIP-enrolled children receive support and encouragement, medical case management, developmental education and family strengthening services, as well as counseling referrals that, when combined, produce confident parents, self-sufficient families, and healthy children with a strong foundation upon which to build future successes.
Mental health services focus on mothers with mental health issues (diagnosed or presenting) and children through age seven who are at risk for serious emotional disturbance, as well as children who are already showing signs of emotional or behavioral issues.
FAMIS OUTREACH PROGRAM
CHIP’s FAMIS Outreach Program helps families overcome barriers to application by providing individualized application assistance, trouble shooting and insurance case management.
CHIP also offers transportation in the CHIP Van to families who do not have a vehicle. The FAMIS Outreach Worker is available to accompany CHIP’s home visiting staff to the family’s home if they are unable to come to the CHIP office and can assist families to collect needed verifications and a Bilingual Outreach Worker is available to translate for Spanish-speaking families.
In addition to enrolling CHIP children in FAMIS and FAMIS Plus programs, CHIP’s FAMIS Outreach Worker assists pregnant mothers with applications for Pregnant Medicaid and FAMIS Moms, programs offering prenatal health care coverage to indigent women through their pregnancy and up to six weeks postpartum. |