Influencing Community Leaders toward the Promotion of Prenatal Care at the Community Level

Abstract

The threefold goal of this quasi-experimental study was to have an impact on knowledge, beliefs and intentions of community leaders related to promoting prenatal care for low-income women. Using a twenty-one community leaders from a selected urban community in Wisconsin participated in an educational intervention that used a pre- and post-test design. The primary goal of the intervention (based on change theory) was to increase community leaders' motivation and decrease their resistance to promoting prenatal care for low-income women in their communities. Various media were used to illustrate and emphasize important prenatal concepts. Community leaders were also given information on the status of maternal and infant statistics and health practices in their communities. This intervention significantly increased community leaders' general knowledge related to prenatal issues; positive beliefs toward the promotion of prenatal care; and intent to engage in activities to promote prenatal care for low-income women. This study reveals that community health nurses can function effectively as agents of change with community leaders.