April is National Minority Health Month
Health District spotlights Nurse-Family Partnership and Healthy Start
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 9, 2024
LAS VEGAS – April is National Minority Health Month, and this year’s theme is “Be the Source for Better Health,” with the focus on improving the health of racial and ethnic minority communities and reducing health disparities. In connection with this observance, the Southern Nevada Health District (SNHD) is calling attention to a pair of programs that support minority health while striving to decrease health inequities.
Nurse Family Partnership
The SNHD Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), a network partner of the national NFP, is an evidence-based community health program that helps pregnant, first-time mothers improve their lives and create better futures for themselves and their children.
Nationally, NFP has supported thousands of families facing socioeconomic barriers across 41 states, including Nevada and many tribal communities. The program is free and voluntary. Participants get their own personal nurse who provides education, resources, and significant support during regular scheduled home visits from pregnancy until the child is 2 years old. In Clark County, the program has supported 1,543 families during 13,843 in-person visits since its inception in 2008.
Every day, hundreds of children are born in the United States to mothers facing economic inequity. In some cases, mothers also face additional challenges like relationships, homelessness, substance use and intimate partner violence.
The first 1,000 days of a child’s development, combined with the partnership that is built between the new mother and the NFP nurse, create positive changes that can have a lasting impact on brain development, school readiness, preventing child abuse and neglect, uplifting families and breaking the cycle of poverty.
In 2023, SNHD’s Nurse-Family Partnership exceeded national NFP rates in several health outcomes:
- 8% of babies had low birth weight, compared to the national NFP rate of 13.2%.
- 100% of babies were current with their immunizations at 6 months, compared to the national NFP rate of 92.2%.
- 100% of babies were current with their immunizations at two years, compared to the national NFP rate of 90.2%.
Healthy Start
Another SNHD program that supports the goals of National Minority Health Month is Healthy Start, a free and voluntary home-visiting program that aims to improve health outcomes for women during and after pregnancy, and for their children. Enrollment for families began in February 2024, with a focus on African American women who are pregnant or of childbearing age. However, the program is open to all races and ethnicities. Participants receive education, resources and support from community health workers and community health nurses, with a goal of reducing racial/ethnic differences in the rates of infant death and adverse perinatal outcomes.
Participants are encouraged to stay in Healthy Start until their child is 18 months old. The families and partners of women who enroll in the program are also welcome to participate in home visits.
For additional information about National Minority Health Month, visit National Minority Health Month (nih.gov). To learn more about the Nurse-Family Partnership, go to Southern Nevada Health District Nurse-Family Partnership (youtube.com) or Nurse-Family Partnership – Southern Nevada Health District. For more information about Healthy Start, call (702) 759-1677.
The Southern Nevada Health District serves as the local public health authority for Clark County, Boulder City, Henderson, Las Vegas, Mesquite and North Las Vegas. The agency safeguards the public health of the community’s residents and visitors through innovative programs, regulations, and initiatives focused on protecting and promoting their health and well-being. More information about the Health District, its programs, services, and the regulatory oversight it provides is available at www.SNHD.info. Follow the Health District on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.