http://www.zwire.com

02/15/2006
Latino clinic treats 'complete package'
By: Mae Rhine , Managing Editor


The clinic is operated under the auspices of Hunterdon Medical Center at the Phillips-Barber Family Health Center.

It's not unusual for Latino children to still be on a bottle at 4 and 5 years of age.

And that can create dental problems as well.

That's one of the things emphasized by the Latino Well Child Clinic, operated under the auspices of Hunterdon Medical Center at its satellite office in Lambertville, the Phillips-Barber Family Health Center.

The clinic started about a year ago after the first one was established at Hunterdon Pediatric Associates in Raritan Township. It is coordinated by Tania Hansen, a bilingual registered nurse, who said she recalled still using a bottle herself at 4 or 5 years of age.

The idea for a Latino Well Child Clinic came from the Latino Healthcare Access Task Force established by the Hunterdon County Freeholders about two years ago.

"Their vision was to remove barriers to health care" for the Latino population, Ms. Hansen said, language being one of them, and to ease the burden at Hunterdon Medical Center's emergency department. Many Latino families were using the ER as their primary care physicians, she explained.

"Certainly, that was an unnecessary burden on the ER," Ms. Hansen said.

The task force's research showed not only was language a barrier, but transportation also was a problem.

That's why the clinics were established in Raritan Township and Lambertville where it is believed the highest concentration of Latinos live in Hunterdon County. According to the census, there are 120 Hispanic or Latino people living in Lambertville, 3 percent of the total 3,868.

Besides being non-English speaking, these families are mostly low-income and have no idea where to seek help for their children, Ms. Hansen said.

The clinics are a way to "get the family plugged into a primary care setting," she said.

Phillips-Barber did a good job before, however, of helping Latino families in the area, Ms. Hansen said. A translator phone was used; the physician or nurse would speak into one headset, and what he or she said would be translated into Spanish as the Latino patient listened and responded with another headset.

Now, the phones are not necessary, at least in the clinics, held the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month from 1 to 4 p.m. at Phillips-Barber.

Dental care is a big concern among the Latino population, Ms. Hansen said.

One problem is because they are bottle-fed for so long.

"Babies who suck from a bottle leave more milk in their mouth," Ms. Hansen explained. "That will rot the teeth. We try to encourage them to use a 'sippy cup' as early as 4 months."

Also, parents tend to leave the bottles in the child's mouth after they fall asleep or give them too much juice; that also affects their teeth.

The idea, she added, is to have children completely weaned off a bottle by 12 to 15 months old. And then parents are taught to start their children with a daily tooth and gum cleaning as soon as the first tooth appears.

Another problem is safety issues, she said. Many of the families, because they are low-income, have no access to car seats or bicycle helmets, for example.

Many don't even have rattles for their infants, she said.

That's important, she said, "because unless children have something enticing to look at, you can't get them to turn their heads and get off the flat spot."

Other safety issues include the lack of smoke detectors and a list of where to call in case of an emergency, such as the poison control hotline.

The clinic provides a sheet of emergency numbers on stickers that can be peeled off and attached to the phone, she said.

Obesity and diabetes are other problems Latino children face, more so than other races, Ms. Hansen said.

"They have a higher risk of diabetes," she said. "It's one of the things this segment (of the population) inherited."

To combat that, the clinic uses the services of Susan Lang-Sponara, a registered dietitian who provides breast-feeding education, weight management and nutritional instruction. That's through a grant from Aventis Pharmaceutical. The clinic itself is sponsored through a grant from Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.

"Having Susan is a huge benefit," Ms. Hansen said.

Another aim of the county task force is to get children somewhere safe to play outdoors; to get some exercise.

"Kids are a lot less physically active," she said, so getting them to exercise helps with obesity and related problems, such as diabetes.

The clinic is treating the children as "a complete package," Ms. Hansen said. It's not just there to treat their ailments.

For example, while the clinic does not accept any patients without insurance, they can come for a first appointment, and someone will help them sign up for Medicaid or New Jersey Kid Care. If they're not eligible for that, such as families whose children were born out of the country and just came to the United States, the hospital has an assistance program to help with medical bills.

There's also a county dental assistance program, she added through the Hunterdon County Department of Health.

Ms. Hansen is hopeful more Latino families will take advantage of the clinic. At this time, there are only about 25, and most of them walk to the clinic, up the long hill on Alexander Avenue to reach Phillips-Barber.

Transportation can be arranged through the county Link program, she pointed out.

"There's a lot more kids here" who can be helped, she said.
To make an appointment, call Phillips-Barber at 397-3535.