Raising Awareness of Congenital CMV in New Jersey

Raising Awareness of Congenital CMV in New Jersey

Meet 2018 Public Health Awareness Mini Grant Recipients: Allison Goldschlag-Reinking and Laurie Navin of The Central Jersey Family Health Consortium
 
What is the name of your project?
 
Raising Awareness of Congenital CMV in New Jersey
 
Tell us a little about yourselves and the Central Jersey Family Health Consortium.
 
Central Jersey Family Health Consortium's (CJFHC) mission is to improve the health of women of childbearing age, infants and children in the region through the collaborative efforts of member hospitals, providers and consumers. 
 
Allison Goldschlag-Reinking works as a Regional Education Coordinator and a Perinatal Risk Reduction Specialist at CJFHC and has been with the organization for more than one year. She has a wealth of experience providing education to healthcare professionals, community partners and the general public. Allison has two children, a son who is two and a daughter who is seven. 
 
Laurie Navin is the Director of Professional Development and Community Engagement at CJFHC. Prior to joining CJFHC, Laurie worked as the Director of Program Services and Public Affairs at March of Dimes. Laurie has been at CJFHC for 6 months.
 
What drove you to apply for the National CMV Foundation mini grant?
 
Someone from the CJFHC board approached them with the opportunity knowing that it fit into the agency's mission and they were uniquely positioned to implement a comprehensive cCMV Education Program for the following reasons:

• Long-standing history of collaboration with maternal and child health providers in the region
• Extensive experience in community-based programming
• Familiarity with the perinatal health system
• Provision of extensive professional and community-based programming 
• Oversight of multiple programs serving women and children in the Central NJ region

How will the grant funds help you achieve your goals?
 
Since 1992, CJFHC has worked to improve the health of women, infants and children in the region by providing professional and community education, providing services and programs that work with high-risk women and families, and collaborating with community partners. The awareness of CMV is extremely low, with only 9% of women having knowledge of this infection. The opportunity to launch a CMV campaign will help them to not only raise awareness, promote behaviors that prevent infection as well as early detection -- critical steps in improving the health of our moms and their children. 
 
What are some of the first steps in implementing your grant?
 
Allison has already met with their marketing consultant about weaving CMV information into their social media campaigns. Additionally, she has met with the Coordinators and Directors of Central Jersey Family Health Consortiums sponsored programs to discuss how they can integrate education on CMV into their existing programming.