The Camellia Project

Dr. Jeffry Will, Director CCI and Professor of Sociology

With Irma Hall and Tim CheneyUniversity of North Florida

Northeast Florida Center for Community Initiatives

Applied Research

$3.2 million in grants since 1994

Different Projects – Magnolia, Azalea, Homeless, East Jacksonville, Pine Forest, EDIP, Let Us Play, Race Relations

Students – 80+ Paid and 900+ Volunteers

What is CCI?

Educate and inform women on healthy behaviors

Examine 8 priority areas Multi-Vitamin with Folic Acid Healthy Diet Exercising Regularly Avoiding Risky Sexual Behaviors Avoiding Tobacco Use Avoiding Exposure to Second-Hand Smoke Using Contraceptives Utilizing Self-Management Strategies

Purpose of Camellia Evaluation

o Forms

o Completed at Initial Assessment and then 1, 4 and 7 months after graduation

o Enrollment, Intent to Change, Self-Efficacy, Health Activities, Depression, and Stress

o Pre- and Post-Tests on Curriculum

o Phone Survey - Graduated and “Enrolled”

o Focus Groups

o Interviews – staff and program director

Methods

N=180

Age 27Height/Weight 5’4” and 173lbs (29.7

bmi)African-American 66.1%Duval County 83.9%Education – HS or less

52.7%

Not Working 67.2%Average Income $14,566

Demographics

Prior Pregnancy

Could choose multiple previous birth outcomes

N=180First Pregnancy - Yes 37.2%First Pregnancy - No 62.8%

N=113Normal 49.6%

LBW 23.0%VLBW 7.1%

Prematurity 29.2%Infant Death 3.5%

Fetal Loss 32.7%

Pre-test prior to the beginning of each class

Post-test at the end of the class

Each Session has shown a significant increase in score with a 99% confidence

Curriculum

Designed to assess the participant’s adherence to

healthy behaviors Does the participant think they will change and in

what time frame Results: 5 of 8 Priority Areas showed significant

results Physical Activity Diet Second – Hand Smoke Contraceptives Self-Management

Intent to Change

Participant’s perception of their own capability

to perform a particular behavior in a particular situation

Scale is 0 to 100 (“cannot do” to “highly confident”)

Ex. Eating a healthy diet when upset or stressed?

Results: High scores at initial assessment No significant results – though scores did

increase “Less confident” Physical Activity and Dieting

Self Efficacy

Detailed information on weekly frequency and duration of

healthy behaviors Results: significant results in several areas IA to 4

Stretching Exercises - increase Walking - increase Other Aerobic Exercises - increase Whole Grain Breads - increase Low Fat Dairy Items - increase Multi-Vitamin with Folic Acid – increase Contraception Use - increase How often smoke – decrease Self Management (seek answers to problems) - increase

Health Activities

Edinburgh Depression Scale (EDS) and

Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)

Both had significant decreases in scores between IA and 1 month after graduation

Not significant between IA and 4 months after graduation

Depression & Stress

Group 3: Shands During sessions discussing the “ups and downs” of motherhood, “Kayla”, a 16 year-old new mom said:

“One of the hard things about motherhood is my lack of income, I am running low on formula and diapers and don’t have money.” In response, “Crystal” (an 18 year old new mom) offered empathy and stated that her uncle purchases baby items for her in bulk. The next week Crystal, not only brought in formula and diapers to the group, but several other baby items, including nice clothing for Kayla’s baby boy.

  In this same group, “Maya” and 19 year old “Sydney” spoke of their need to obtain housing. Some of the

more seasoned mothers, 36 year-old “Angela” and 26 year-old “Tiffany” chimed in sharing information with the young moms about agencies they could call for help and apartment complexes that had vacancies.

Group 5: Shands “Sarah”, a 28 year old new mom, whose husband was overseas with the Navy, had been very tearful

during the coordinator’s enrollment visit with her. Later, during group, she shared how she had been feeling: “I felt so much guilt thinking that my overweight caused my baby’s illness.” While attending the group she met “Stacy”, a thin member of the group, who also had a baby in the NICU with the same illness as Sarah’s baby.  After meeting Stacy and hearing her story, Sarah expressed her feelings by saying: “I feel tremendous relief knowing my weight was not likely the primary cause of my son’s illness.” From that moment on the other moms began to open up and express how they also had felt guilty that their babies’ were in the NICU. 

Camellia Stories

Jeff Will – jwill@unf.edu or 620-4408

www.unf.edu/coas/cci

Questions