Peer Support and Education Groups meet weekly and give women a fun way to talk about things that are important to them and their families. Women can get answers to questions about almost anything. A lot of the activities are hands on and peer facilitated. Participants gain facts about their health and wellness, how family health history and habits can influence them, how stress can affect the body, how the environment can affect their overall health, and so much more! Consumers can draw on the wisdom of the facilitator and develop skills as facilitators or peer advocates.
Since 2001 more than 3,000 women have attended the peer support groups, and studies show that a significant number of these women have learned a lot about the risk factors that affect their health, pregnancy, and the birth of a child. Many women who have attended the Peer Support and Education Groups have changed unhealthy behaviors like poor eating habits and not getting preventive or well woman health care. Many have also gotten additional help with receiving a GED, better housing, and getting out of a bad relationship. These groups are conducted throughout Gadsden County in the local communities.
Gadsden Woman to Woman offers many services for women and their children, including:
Counseling services help women who are feeling depressed or sad or feel unsafe. Women can talk to a counselor in private for any reason. A full-time counselor is available to help.
Physical health assessment means a nurse will come to the home and conduct blood pressure checks and/or other assessments. The nurse will answer questions about medications or review instructions from a medical provider.
Nutrition services are provided in the home that include how to eat healthier foods, lose weight, stretch your grocery dollars and how to cook healthy meals for your family.
Exercise and health education is offered through individual and group exercise information and instruction, including ZUMBA classes.
Women with questions or need help, call (850) 875-4959 or (850) 875-4963 and ask to speak to a program manager.
Gadsden Woman to Woman offers case management and counseling services to women that promote optimal physical and mental health. Services are offered by way of a woman’s entry into the program, and they are offered to children and additional family members if needs are identified. GWTW services center around strength-based individual and family assessments that assist in identifying the needs of the individuals or/and their families.
GWTW uses validated instruments for assessments such as the Patient Health Questionnaire, Depression Screening, Perceived Stress Scale, Health Literacy Assessment, Ages and Stages Child Development Questionnaire, and the Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Emotional and Social screening. Additionally, individuals are assessed using a biopsychosocial assessment tool to screen for current and historical mental health concerns.
A Home Safety Checklist assessment is conducted in each home where there are children under three years of age. All women are involved in the development of an individualized case plan and/or treatment plan if necessary. Treatment plans and case plans are used as the guide for delivery of case management and counseling services.
Gadsden Woman to Woman offers comprehensive in-home and group parenting training for enrolled participants. Gadsden Woman to Woman Elements of Parenting uses an interactive approach to teach each lesson and parents become involved in their learning experience. During each session, parents:
Write ideas and process thoughts regarding their parenting experiences as children and then compare those experiences to how they are parenting.
Complete a parenting guide with coping strategies and skills learned.
Parenting topics include but are not limited to parenting and myths about parenting, challenges all parent face, temperament (yours and your child’s), how a child develops, realistic behavioral and developmental expectation, parenting styles, and the difference between punishment and discipline. All parenting sessions are pre- and post-tested for assessment of knowledge of acquisition. Topic areas are explored with the parents to enable them through interactive training/education to support positive physical, intellectual, emotional, and social well-being of the child from infancy to adulthood.
Gadsden Woman to Woman also processes with consumers plans for future pregnancy. Each participant –whether pregnant, has had a child or has never been pregnant – completes a Reproductive Plan with the Gadsden Woman to Woman staff. The Reproductive Plan allows the woman to think through topics such as the best time to have a baby, where they see themselves two years down the road, and how an unplanned pregnancy could affect plans.
