By Gillian Graham
Staff Writer

A trip to the emergency room is not always the best way to treat a sick child.
While that may seem obvious to some parents, a new program in York County will equip parents with information they need to treat their children’s basic health needs at home.
York County Community Action Corporation’s Head Start program was awarded an I CAN Health Literacy Program grant to provide training and materials to educate parents and guardians about their children’s health.
Organizers say the program is designed to empower parents in decision making, enhance their self-esteem and enable parents to become better caregivers for their children. It will also provide training and information to family-focused organizations to provide health literacy training programs.
Deb Justham, Head Start program operations manager, said the program is the first in Maine; grants were also awarded to 22 other organizations across the country. The grant provided $30 per parent for training, as well as a book for each family worth about $10.
Justham said the grant covers about half the cost of the training. The Maine program has committed to training 100 parents, 50 each in Biddeford and Sanford. Participants for the first session are parents of current Head Start students.
Justham said training will begin in January and will offer families basic information such as how to use over-the-counter medicine to treat a fever.
“It helps prepare them with the use of thermometers and measuring medications,” she said. “It’s a way to empower and enable.”
Justham said research shows this type of education reduces the number of visits to doctors and the emergency room because parents learn when those visits are actually needed.
“The families we see often spend a lot of time going to emergency rooms for things they’re not familiar with,” she said. “It becomes an emergency because you panic, so you want to get that help for your child.”
In October, Head Start staff attended Health Literacy training in Atlanta along with Megan Rochelo, director of Coastal Health Communities Coalition. The coalition is a community partner sponsoring the program along with other organizations and health care providers.
The training in Atlanta was presented primarily by professors from UCLA on topics including project planning, marketing and community relationships and staff and parent motivation. Justham said the university will compile follow-up information on the program provided in the three months after training ends.
Rochelo said the coalition has assisted with planning the training and securing doctors to participate in the classes.
“We’ve been doing a lot of outreach,” she said.
At the training sessions, the coalition will help facilitate the training and provide health information to parents on topics such as lead poisoning prevention, Rochelo said.
Justham said parents who have registered for the class seem excited, especially about receiving a reference book to keep at home.
Rochelo said she is also excited for the program to start because parents and their children will benefit from health education.
“It really gives them the power to care for their kids at home and make them feel confident they are doing the right thing for their child,” she said.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.