Health Intervention Program (HIP)

One of Health Promotion Council’s newly-acquired programs is the Health Intervention Program (HIP), which has been, since 2006, working with families with at least one child with special health care needs. Some of the more noteworthy work HIP has conducted over the years is with immigrant families. Many times, new immigrants have only small social support networks and have difficulty understanding the workings of the US benefits and healthcare systems, which greatly limits their ability to provide for their children’s advanced needs. The expertise, patience, support, and concern the HIP staff provides the families helps to relieve their stress and anxiety and makes them better able to cope. One family, in particular, benefited greatly from the work of HIP and other service providers throughout Philadelphia.

 

The *Basri’s are immigrants from a Middle Eastern country. When they began HIP services, they had an 8-year-old daughter with intellectual disabilities and a set of infant twins who were born prematurely. They were having a difficult time understanding the medical issues their twins faced and found it difficult to give their daughter the time and attention she needed. The HIP team introduced the family to the medical specialists at Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania. HIP helped the family set up all the appropriate appointments, accompanied them to their medical appointments in order to help them understand and be involved in treatment planning, educated them about the medical services, and trained them to respond to possible medical crises. One of the main goals of HIP is to make the family as self-sufficient and confident as possible before reducing or discontinuing services. Through this intervention, HIP was able to help them create and maintain a stable, on-going relationship with their medical providers. Establishing these relationships was an important step because the children will be in need of services for many years, but the family would be eligible for HIP services for only one year. HIP staff modeled appropriate parenting skills, including how to engage the children and use the designated activities to promote healthier development of the twins and their older daughter. HIP also helped the family understand and use the special education system in the public schools and to access and use local immigration services, which allowed for them to become documented citizens.

 

When Mr. Basri’s mother fell ill in their country of origin, HIP stepped in to help the family gain visas so they could travel to the Middle East to spend time with her. This process involved securing three months’ worth of a rare medication that all three children needed for the trip, and without which their health would have been greatly affected. During the time needed to plan the trip, HIP ensured the family was able to appropriately grieve the inevitable death of Mr. Basri’s mother. The family was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to visit their home and say their goodbyes.

 

The importance of social support during hard times permeates every service HIP provides. One of our newest case managers, Rachael McInnes, recalled a recent conversation she had with a mother of a child with autism. The mother asked, through a tearful gaze, if her son would ever “get better.” This is a difficult question to answer by even the most well-trained case manager, because the answer is almost always a “no.” Rachael had to take a deep breath and explain to this mother that, while her son would not reach the same milestones at the same time as his typically-developing peers, he would have the ability to reach his own milestones in time with support and care. She wanted the mother to understand that with all the work she and her son are doing, and through all the specialists he sees, his quality of life will be much improved, but not “perfect.” She also wanted the mother to know that she and her family would be supported emotionally by HIP and other social services as long as she sought that support. The conversation ended in tears, but showed Rachael this mother’s unconditional love for her son. Rachael is confident that, over time, this mother will come to accept that her son will always have special needs and that she will rise to the occasion every time her son needs her.

 

I leave you with a quote from Rachael, which sums up her feelings about the parents with whom she works. “As children age, their intellectual and physical disabilities become more evident to parents. At times, these disabilities illustrate the harsh reality of the difficulties their child may face. But these visible reminders can move parents to climb any obstacles with their child. “

 

*name changed in the interest of privacy.

 

The Health Intervention Program is funded through Philadelphia Department of Health’s Maternal, Child, and Family Health division.