353 Telfair Street
Augusta, GA 30901
Tel. (706)721-1040
Fax. (706)721-1048

Healthy Start Services

Eligibility

The PELI Initiative

Partnering to Educate for Life Initiative

(PELI)

Background

To address the health needs of women, the Community Partnership formed a special Perinatal Health Education Focus Group to assess current gaps in perinatal care and health education services in Augusta-Richmond County. This group consists of local representation from all major hospitals, the county health department, clinics, private providers, the board of education, consumers, and other health professionals.

 

As a result of these meetings, the group concluded that although many components of a comprehensive coordinated health education system in Richmond County exists, the services, including those for women, remain fragmented and limited in scope. In addition, many of the services are not accessible, available, appropriate or adequate to meet community needs. Based on these findings, the group developed a pilot project called the Partnering to Educate for Life Initiative (PELI), which will target areas most in need of health education services.

The PELI model will benefit the community by:

• Enhancing the current depth and breadth of services to cover a continuum of services throughout a woman's child-bearing years.
  
  
• Increasing accessibility and availability of services to underserved populations and underserved areas by bringing people to the service or taking services to the people.
  
  
• Ensuring affordability of services.
  
  
• Facilitating collaboration among the various organizations, agencies, and individuals to implement community based strategies to address the project goal.
  
  

PELI Pilot Project in Hephzibah, Georgia
The Perinatal Education Focus group will soon be implementing the Partnering to Educate for Life Initiative (PELI) in Hephzibah, Georgia. Through extensive surveys and data research, the group found that Hephzibah is an area of Richmond County most in need of health education services.

 

Did You Know that in Hephzibah...

• In 1999, the rate of low birth weight babies was 10.3/100.
  
  
• Approximately 45% of all infant deaths between 1994 and 1996 occurred in the 30906/30815 zip code areas (which includes Hephzibah), and 15% in the Hephzibah community alone.
  
  
• Public transportation is limited or nonexistent.
  
  
• Access to health service centers and clinics is limited.
  
  
• There is a limited number of Medicaid providers. Most of them are located in the downtown Augusta vicinity.
  
  
• Community focused health education is limited. Most of these programs are conducted by healthcare institutions or coordinated by social service agencies in downtown Augusta.
  
  
• Health education provided by perinatal case managers during office or home visits is limited.