May 24, 2000
Page A3
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OHSU nurses help change babies' lives for the better Facts about African-Americans
• CDRC’s Program fo r Families o f
Children With Disabilities connects
families with services, provides training
and support
LQN1R1BL I tDSIORY
At 5 months old, Jasm ine A nkem an
was unusually small for her age.
Jasm ine’s m other, T racy M oore-
Ankeman, brought her to a John Day
health clinic to have her weighed.
During the visit, she also told M arsha
Delaney, R.N., she w as concerned
about more than ju st her weight. “ She
w a s n ’t s ittin g up. S h e w a s n ’t
grabbing for her toys,” T racy said, “ I
thought she w as d e a f and blind
because she w ouldn’t even look at
you when you talked to her.”
F ortunately for Jasm ine and her
mother, M arsha is not only a public
h e a lth n u rs e , b u t a ls o a C a re
C oordination n urse d ed icated to
w orking w ith children w ho have
special health needs. CaCoon is a
program o f the C hild Developm ent
and Rehabilitation C enter at Oregon
Health Sciences U niversity. M arsha
was able to help T racy schedule an
e v a lu a tio n fo r J a s m in e w ith a
physician in Bend, 60 m iles aw ay,
who diagnosed Jasm ine with cerebral
p a ls y . A t th a t p o in t, M a rs h a
continued to offer support by helping
them access therapy services that
h av e m ad e a b ig d iffe re n c e in
Jasm ine’s life.
C aC oon is a statew ide program that
c o n tr a c ts w ith c o u n ty h e a lth
departm ents to provide public health
n u rsin g se rv ic e s to fa m ilie s o f
disabled chi ldren in the com m unities
w here they live
C aC oon nurses help parents w ho
have children, birth through 20 years-
of-age, coordinate services and find
resources for their children. These
children are affected by com plex
m edical conditions — such as, cleft
palate, cerebral palsy, hydrocephalus
and conditions related to prem aturity
— that result in special m edical,
educational, vocational and social
n e e d s. C a C o o n ’s m issio n is to
em p o w e r fam ilies w ith sk ills to
becom e as independent as possible
in caring for their child. The nurses
m eet regularly w ith fam ilies to teach
them special feeding techniques, how
to m anage m edical equipm ent and
connect them w ith existing social
services, w hich are som etim es hard
to access.
P ro g ram d ir e c to r fo r C a C o o n ,
Catherine Renken, R.N., M. P.H., said,
“T he need for C aC oon nursing is
getting greater. W ith advances in
m edicine, m ore and m ore kids with
co m p lex m edical co n d itio n s are
surviving.”
CaCoon started in 1987 at OHSU and
has proved to be a national model. It
is funded, in part, by the Federal
M aternal and C hild H ealth Bureau.
T he program has been replicated in
W y o m in g a n d N o rth D a k o ta .
D elegates from oth er states have
co m e to stu d y th e v ia b ility o f
im plem enting the program in their
hom e states.
Thanks to C aCoon training, M arsha
recognized that som ething was not
right w hen she exam ined Jasm ine,
and was able to do som ething about
it. T racy said, “All Jasm ine would do
was lie there with her arm s above her
head,” a pose that is com mon in babies
with neurodevelopmental deficits. “If
M arsha w asn ’t there we w ou ld n ’t
have gotten any help. W e w ouldn’t
have found out ‘till it w as too late.”
Because babies with cerebral palsy
respond to occupational and physical
therapy, the sooner they can begin
therapy the greater the rate at w hich
they will acquire skills. In addition,
early in te rv e n tio n s can m ak e a
difference in the level ofindependence
these, children will achieve as they
grow — having less need for social
services later in life. With therapy
once a week. Jasm ine has made
substantial progress. “Jasm ine can
roll over now, her arm s are down at
her sides more, sh e’s even trying to
reach fo rh erto y san d play. It’s really
great to see,” Tracy said.
“ Each case is different. Some need
more help then others,” M arsha said.
“Some ju st need to know that there
are people to help them and they
d o n ’t need to go through this alone.”
Tracy, her husband and their 4 year-
old son have moved from John Day to
Bend to be closer to services for
Jasmine. CaCoon helped facilitate the
transition by putting them in contact
with people who could help them
look for work and a place to live, as
well as provide em otional support
and other services.
For exam ple, the St. V incent dePaul
Society paid for a motel in Bend while
they looked for housing and work.
"M oving aw ay from our family has
been hard. W e don’t know anybody
here,” Tracy said. “But it’s all worth
it. Jasm ine deserves the best. Marsha
has been great. She definitely made a
big difference.”
M ore inform ation about CD RC can
be found at http://w w w .o h su /ed u /
cdrc/cacoon/.
Portland YouthBuilders announces opening of second site
CONTRIBUTED STOKi
for T he P ortland O bserver
Portland Y outhB uilders announced
the expansion o f its program s to a
second site, located at the Boys and
Girls Club in the Lents Neighborhood
o f southeast Portland
T he southeast site will operate with
an enrollm ent capacity o f 24, P Y B ’s
m a in s ite in th e S t. J o h n s
N eighborhood o f North Port land wi 11
continue to serve youth throughout
N orth and Northeast.
Portland YouthBuilders isanon-profit
organization education, vocational
training, jo b readiness, and leadership
developm ent for very low -incom e
youth w ho are 18-24 years o f age and
have not com pleted high school. Key
com ponents o f the program include
a s s is tin g s tu d e n ts to d e v e lo p
m arketable skills through training in
the construction field, and classroom
training for a high school diplom a or
G ED, Students receive a m onthly
stipend in addition to earning an
education grant o f $2,363 w hich can
be used for further education upon
completion of900 hours o f community
service and participation each week
in hum an service projects.
A ccording to Executive Jill W alters,
th e e x p a n s io n in to S o u th e a s t
Portland “reflects Y outhB uilders’
com m itm ent to bring our program s
and services to young people who
need them. We are very encouraged
by the com m unity’s initial response
to our new site, and are eager to
participate in com m unity service and
revitalization work in southeast.”
For information about YouthBuilders,
please call Matt Sten, at 503-774-9643.
with heart disease and stroke
COM R im ILD StO tn
W hat com es to mind when you think o f heart diseases? A middle-aged
W hite man dying suddenly from a heart attack? Well think again.
Cardiovascular disease and stroke, is the leading cause o f death for A frican
A m erican men and w om en - claim ing the lives o f over 100,000 annually. In
1997, cardiovascular disease accounted for 33.8 percent o f deaths am ong
black men and 41.3 percent am ong black women, according to the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention o f the National Center for Health
Statistics. O verall, more than 950,000 people die a year due to cardiovascular
disease - more than other diseases.
Did you know th a t...?
Cardiovascular disease and stroke cause 41.2 percent o f all A merican
deaths - 1 out o f 2.4 deaths. A frican A m erican are at greater risk for
cardiovascular disease and stroke death than whites. M ore than 2,600
A m ericans die each day o f cardiovascular disease, an average o f 1 death
every 33 seconds.
C om pared with whites, young A frican A merican have a tw o-to-three-fold
greater risk o f ischemic stroke (caused by a clogged blood vessel), and
A frican - American men and w omen are m ore likely to die o f stroke
The 1997 death rates (2000 standard) for stroke were 61.5 for white m ales
and 88.5 for A frican-A m erican males; and 57.9 for w hite fem ales and 76.1
for African- American females.
For non-Hispanic African-American age 20 and older, 36.7 percent men and
36.6 percent o f women have high blood pressure a leading cause o f stroke
African-A m ericans and w hites in the southeastern United States have a
greater prevalence o f high blood pressure and higher death rates from
strokes than those from other regions o f the country.
As many as 30 percent o f all deaths in hypertensive A frican-A m erican men
and 20 percent ofall deaths in hypertensive A frican-A m erican w omen may
be attributable to high blood pressure.
Com pared w ith whites, African-A m erican develops high blood pressure at
an earlier age, and it is more severe than any decade o f their life. As a result,
African-A m ericans have a 1.5 tim es greater rate o f heart disease death and
a 1.8 times rate o f fatal strokes. 68.3 percent o f A frican-A m ericans females
are overw eight and 38.2 percent are obese. A frican-A m ericans are one o f
the least active groups in term s o f overall physical inactivity.
For additional statistics go to the African A m erican and Cardiovascular
Disease Biostatistical Fact Sheet on the Am erican Heart A ssociation W eb
site at w w w .am hrt.org/statistics/biostatsTndex. Call the A m erican Heart
A sso c ia tio n at 1 -800-A H A -U SA 1 o r lo g o n to th e ir w e b site at
w w w .am ericanheart.org for additional inform ation about heart disease,
science new s, program s, and C PR training.
To request m aterials about stroke prevention, call the A m erican Stroke
A ssocioation at 1 -888 4STRO KE, orcheck out ww w.strokeassociation.org
for m ore inform ation about life after a stroke, contact the stroke Family
“W armline” at 1-800-553-6321.
Shoelaces need
careful hand /
to guide them.
The ¿ante id true of children.
A o u have more to teach kids than you might imagine.
the Time is a cam paign to help young people succeed. And that
takes some help from adults. W e’ve outlined 40 assets that help young people become successful, and we can suggest ways for
T A K E T H E T IM E
you to get involved. Be the difference. Please call us at 503-988-3897 o r visit o u r w ebsite at ta k e th e tim e .o rg to learn more.
BE T H E D IF F E R E N C E