View Larger Image
Fatherhood FIRE connects parents to parenting education and resources.
UAMS’ Fatherhood FIRE Program Enrolling Northwest Arkansas Families
| FAYETTEVILLE — Fatherhood FIRE (Family-focused, Interconnected, Resilient and Essential), a free program for dads, moms and partners that provides education, resources and support through community services in Northwest Arkansas, is now enrolling participants in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties.
The program is administered by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Office of Community Health & Research and is funded by the U.S. Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families. Trained community health workers work with clients to provide one-on-one case management, connections to community resources, healthy relationship training for couples, parenting education, and more.
“This program is a great way for parents to connect with themselves to understand their own upbringing so they can be the parents their children need,” said Peter Cooper, a program education manager in the Office of Community Health & Research. “We have graduated 223 from the program, and that number continues to grow almost every week.”
Participants in Fatherhood FIRE are required to complete 24 hours of education —available in English, Spanish and Marshallese — that focuses on how to strengthen relationships with their children, partners and families. Participants learn skills related to showing and handling emotions, physical health, child development and more.
To learn more about Fatherhood FIRE and other UAMS family programs, visit nwa.uams.edh/chr.
The UAMS Northwest Regional Campus includes 329 medical, pharmacy, nursing and health professions students, 66 medical and pharmacy residents, and two sports medicine fellows. The campus has nine clinics including a student-led clinic, orthopaedics and sports medicine, and physical, occupational and speech therapy. Faculty conduct research to reduce health disparities.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute and Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,240 students, 913 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 11,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.