(Posted 12-3-99)
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Service Contact: Steve Gilliam, 336-334-5371

NURSING PROFESSORS GET OVER $37,000 IN GRANTS
TO SUPPORT PREGNANCY PREVENTION PROGRAM

GREENSBORO -- Two faculty members in the School of Nursing at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro have received grants totaling more than $37,000 to support College Bound Sisters, an adolescent pregnancy prevention program.

Drs. Hazel N. Brown and Rebecca B. Saunders received grants of $32,629 from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services and $5,000 from the March of Dimes. The funds will provide operating support for the program.

Now in its fourth year, the program focuses on girls who have sisters who had a baby before age 18. Its purpose is to prevent the girls from becoming pregnant like their sisters.

Through weekly meetings and activities, the program encourages girls to avoid pregnancy, graduate from high school and go to college. Girls ages 12 to 14 are in one group, and 15- and 16-year-olds are in a second group. The program can accommodate a total of 24 girls, and it is at capacity now, Brown said.

The program puts $7 a week into a college fund for each participant who remains non-pregnant and attends the meetings. The money is released to the participants once they enroll in either a two-year or four-year college. People interested in College Bound Sisters can call Laurie Smith, program manager, at 334-5193.

To gauge the program's effectiveness, Brown and Saunders have set up a comparison group of girls in the 12-16 age range who fit the same criteria as participants. These girls do not take part in the program, but they undergo periodic interviews with program coordinators. Comparison group members also are compensated for their involvement.

College Bound Sisters has been recognized as an innovative program in adolescent pregnancy prevention. This year, the program received the International Research Utilization Award from Sigma Theta Tau International nursing honor society and a certificate of recognition from the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

A UNCG faculty member since 1974, Brown, a professor, is chair of the School of Nursing's Division of Parent-Child Nursing. Her research specialty is in the areas of maternity nursing and nursing administration. She has published numerous articles in professional journals and has presented her research at national and international conferences. She received her doctorate from UNCG. Brown received UNCG's senior Alumni Teaching Excellence Award and the School of Nursing's Teaching Excellence Award in 1999. She received UNCG's Bullard Award for service in 1997.

Saunders, an associate professor, joined UNCG's faculty in 1977. In 1999, she received the Maternal-Child Health March of Dimes Nurse of the Year Award from the N.C. Nurses Association. She received the 1997 Award of Excellence in Education from District 4 of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. She has been co- editor of a major textbook and published in other maternal-child texts and a variety of nursing journals. She received her doctorate from UNCG.

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