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2010 Program Accomplishments

Submitted by ewnc on September 8, 2011

In 2010, the March of Dimes North Carolina Folic Acid Campaign began its transition to officially become the March of Dimes North Carolina Preconception Health Campaign. The intent of this transformation was to broaden the Campaign’s mission beyond folic acid education to include other preconception health messages such as healthy weight and reproductive life planning. In 2010, the Campaign focused on preparations to launch a healthy weight initiative in 2011, including the development and production of evidence-based print materials.

Community Health Outreach and Education
Regional coordinators train individuals across the state to be lay health educators through the Community Ambassador program. These individuals provide trainings about folic acid and multivitamins through their own personal networks, making it a particularly effective way to reach women across the state.
 
In 2010:
  • 50 Community Ambassadors were trained and reached approximately 3,000 individuals.
  • Coordinators made 149 folic acid presentations in their local communities.
  • Campaign staff presented to 41 community groups, reaching hundreds of individuals, collaborated with 11 public health agencies to ensure the folic acid message is incorporated into standard health education, and held 13 trainings/events on 11 college campuses.
Health Care Provider Education
Health care providers are the leading source of folic acid information among all women. Unfortunately, only one-third of women ages 18-45 have discussed the benefits of folic acid with their health care provider, even though 89 percent of women who do not take multivitamins say they would be likely to do so on the recommendation of their health care provider. In order to close this gap, the Campaign reaches out to health care providers via professional education and in-office trainings using the Office Champion program. The providers are given tools and encouraged to talk to their female patients about taking folic acid during their childbearing years.
 
In 2010:
  • Over 2,000 health care providers and 235 agencies were reached by the Campaign via professional education at health care conferences.
  • 257 health care providers were trained as a part of the Office Champion program. Approximately 550 previously trained offices were supported in their work to promote folic acid. These offices in turn reach thousands of women across the state.
Statewide Multivitamin Distribution Program
In 2009, the N.C. General Assembly appropriated funding for a statewide distribution of multivitamins with folic acid to low income, non-pregnant women of childbearing age through health departments and other safety net providers.
 
The program’s success is tangible:
  • 234 agencies signed up for the program, including health departments in all 100 N.C. counties.
  • 172 agencies were trained on site by our regional coordinators, reaching over 1,000 health care professionals.
  • 1,100 additional providers were trained through an online training module at getfolic.com.
  • Nearly half a million bottles of vitamins will be distributed by the end of 2011.
Latino Campaign
The Campaign places special emphasis on educating the Hispanic/Latino population about folic acid because this group has almost twice the rate of neural tube defects (birth defects of the brain and spine, such as spina bifida) than other races/ethnicities.
 
In 2010:
  • 562 women were reached by a CDC funded program to pilot test a Spanish-language folic acid “Promotora” program that reaches women most at risk for delivering babies with neural tube defects.
  • The Latino Outreach Coordinator developed a reproductive life planning tool in Spanish, which is available to public health facilities across the state.
  • The Campaign also provided cultural competency trainings and outreach at large Latino health festivals.
Media
The Campaign continued to promote folic acid using mass media and social media in English and Spanish.
 
In 2010:
  • 589 advertisements were placed with Spanish-language print, radio and television outlets across the state.
  • Web-based advertising to drive traffic to getfolic.com via Facebook Ads, Yahoo! Sponsored Searches, Microsoft AdCenter and Google AdWords, garnered 15 million impressions.
  • Getfolic.com received approximately 30,000 visitors in 2010 and 89% of visitors were new to the site.
  • Our educational videos were viewed 1,775 times in 2010 on YouTube.
  • We maintained an active social media presence on the following websites: Myspace, Facebook, Blogger and Twitter.
  • Thousands of folic acid educational items, such as posters, brochures and DVDs, were distributed by our partner, the North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation.
  • Four media releases resulted in several print articles, radio interviews and a feature article in “Sophie Woman’s Magazine.”
Presentations and Materials
In 2010, new materials reflecting the transition to a broader preconception message were developed. In collaboration with the State of North Carolina’s Division of Public Health, a sixteen page booklet called “Healthy Habits for Life” was developed. The booklet guides women of reproductive health age through the steps of achieving a healthy weight. Additionally, the Campaign developed a Spanish-language reproductive life planning tool designed to encourage Spanish-speaking women to plan for a healthy life.
 
The Campaign also continues to present and publish information about its programs and evaluations at the state and national level. Staff members presented on preconception health and folic acid at the following conferences in 2010: the North Carolina Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign annual conference; the National Birth Defects Prevention Network’s annual meeting; the Every Woman Southeast preconception health initiative; and the American Public Health Association’s annual meeting. Staff members also served on the statewide preconception health leadership team and Every Woman Southeast, a new regional preconception health collaborative of eight southeastern states.
 
Our Partners 
Women’s Health Branch at the Division of Public Health/North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, The North Carolina Healthy Start Foundation, Fullerton Genetics Center at Mission Hospitals, North Carolina Birth Defects Monitoring Program, UNC Center for Maternal and Infant Health, Department of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, National Council on Folic Acid, National Birth Defects Prevention Network
 
To download a PDF of the 2010 Program Accomplishments, click here.
Revised: September 8, 2011

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