“Hear Her”

Describing her prenatal care experience, Tonjanic, a Houston mom with twins stated, “They didn’t ask me how was I doing? How did I feel? Did I have any concerns? And that was a concern for me.” After experiencing a previous pregnancy loss, Tonjanic was placed on bed rest at 13 weeks and had to quit her job. She reported feeling “trapped” by her circumstances and anxious about her babies’ health. And like so many pregnant people in the United States (US) she felt her voice, her needs, and her priorities were not heard by the providers caring for her during her pregnancy.

In both clinical care and public health policy in the U.S. there remains a lack of recognition of lived experience as expertise. In other words, policies and medical decision making are often made for and about individuals and communities without their input. At the same time, inequities in maternal and infant mortality and birth outcomes have persisted for decades indicating that, simply put, we’re missing the mark. To address maternal and child health inequities, a focus on the importance of social and systemic drivers of maternal and child health inequities, grounded within an ecological framework that prioritizes lived expertise and community voice, is needed.

As more of the healthcare industry shifts focus toward community solutions to improve health outcomes (e.g. cross-sector collaboration and coordinated care) it has become clear that much of this work follows a top-down approach, perpetuating power dynamics that place “experts” above “community.” This dynamic makes it difficult to achieve broad and inclusive partnerships, as power imbalances often preclude trust. In this commentary, we will share strategies and early lessons learned from a unique non-profit-private partnership between March of Dimes’ Collective Impact initiatives and Unite Us’ cross-sector collaboration software, to help answer some of these questions.

March of Dimes Collective Impact Initiatives and Unite Us Partnership

March of Dimes is a national nonprofit leader in maternal and infant health. Their Local Collective Impact Initiatives mobilize cross-sector organizations and community members locally to address the underlying challenges impacting families while deploying strategies to improve rates of preterm birth and maternal mortality. Currently deployed across six communities in the US, this work is ongoing and follows the Tamarack Institute’s Collective Impact (CI) phases.

The March of Dimes partnered with Unite Us, a leading technology company that enables community-based organizations the ability to communicate with each other and local service providers to improve whole-person health and well-being, to provide the technical infrastructure to support care coordination for its Collective Impact Initiatives. In doing so, both organizations discovered they have similar approaches to engaging in community-based work.

Ecological Framework to Drive Systems Change

One of those approaches is employing an ecological framework that recognizes that individuals navigate between multiple, interconnected social, cultural, and economic contexts. These contexts are considered when developing multilevel community based interventions, and the literature consistently favors this approach. Integrating an ecological perspective of the community context, and a commitment to work in partnership with community members, groups, and settings in the local community, helps researchers and public health practitioners implement successful health promotion interventions. As the health care industry looks toward multilevel community-based interventions to drive better health outcomes, we are sharing those strategies that have proven successful for our respective organizations, both within and beyond the current Collective Impact partnership.

Strategies for Successful Community-Based Interventions

First, Listen. Spend time understanding history and context. March of Dimes’ Collective Impact Directors and Unite Us Community Engagement teams are afforded dedicated time to explore historical context and perspectives from community members, leaders, and organizations. Since much of our health is informed by structural and institutional policies, community beliefs, and cultural values, community interventions require local policy research, review of past and current “community health needs assessments,” and most importantly, conversations with community members (those closest to the issue). You cannot build community trust and ownership without clear insight into both the strengths and assets of a community and the historical barriers they face

Make a long term commitment and remain patient. This work takes years, not months. By its very nature, maternal health work is intergenerational and requires an intergenerational commitment to see real and lasting change. Simply “dropping” a program or tool into a community, then walking away, cannot be successful on its own. Communities must be co-owners to carry the work forward.

Center Equity. Begin with a shared vision that represents all engaged partners. It is also critical when engaging in community work to intentionally shift the balance of power, placing community members in leadership positions, co-designing interventions and strategies at every step, and recognizing the need to offer stipends, honorariums, or other support (e.g. child care and transportation) that will enable authentic and accessible community participation.

Create a Culture of Learning. We don’t know what we don’t know. This work is about being open, actively seeking new information, and iteratively adapting. A core value for both March of Dimes and Unite Us is to lean into hard conversations. To do this effectively, March of Dimes Collective Impact Directors receive Results Based Facilitation (RBF) training to help them learn skills around effective meeting facilitation, developing meeting agendas to move teams to action, and navigating through conflict.

Improve equitable access to data and information. Understanding how many people are engaged, enter services or receive a social or health care referral is important information. However, if we are striving to see population level change we need to gain a better understanding of the quality of care and services provided, the outcomes of those services, and visibility into the entire care journey for each individual.

The Merits of Embedding Program Evaluation: Implications for Program Evaluation

Evaluation as a component to any public health intervention is perhaps as important to its success as program planning and design. Traditionally, program evaluation has been seen as an outside and objective activity, with evaluators positioned as experts and final decision-makers. Both March of Dimes and Unite Us use a developmental evaluation approach wherein the evaluator is seen as a part of the project team, incorporated into program design and implementation, and data are collectively gathered and interpreted as the program is iteratively modified. Program teams and community members, in addition to the evaluator, play a role in evaluation goal-setting and recommendations, with an emphasis on learning, innovation, change, and power-sharing. This is in line with the community-engaged approach outlined above, and is part of a paradigm shift in the broader evaluation community; moving from seeing evaluation as an outside, objective, bias-free activity, to understanding that “evaluations cannot be culture free” and traditional definitions of validity and rigor center dominant cultures.

Early Learnings

While we see strong value in community-centered models to address health inequities, we also recognize that implementing community-led systems change is not without its challenges. The strategies outlined in this commentary are meant to remind organizations, health systems, and providers that in order to spur and sustain improved intergenerational health, the work must begin locally. In the context of maternal and child health, this is perhaps even more critical as parenting and the role of “mother” places unique demands on individuals and their health. Their experiences, perspectives, and priorities must be front and center at all stages of program planning, implementation, and evaluation, to ensure those expected to benefit from the program, are co-designers.

Interested in learning more about how to bring Unite Us to your organization?

Get in Touch

The post A Collective Impact Model to Advance Maternal Health Equity appeared first on uniteus.com.

Person-Centered Maternal Care

The First 1,000 Days Suncoast initiative in Florida, led by Sarasota Memorial Health Care System, shows us a path toward proactive, person-centered maternal care. This pioneering, cross-sector collaboration is focused on supporting pregnant women, new parents, and their families by addressing their unmet social and healthcare needs.  

Together with Unite Us, Sarasota Memorial Health Care System conducted a study demonstrating that addressing unmet social needs may significantly improve maternal outcomes while reducing overall healthcare costs. Results included:

• A 79% reduction in the odds of postpartum-related readmissions for Medicaid enrollees 
• Over $350,000 estimated savings for all-cause readmissions per 1,000 deliveries
• Continued reduction in odds of hospital admission up to 12 months after delivery 

These key factors drove the study’s success:

• Streamlining collaboration with the community to deliver care outside the hospital’s four walls 
• Incorporating patients’ lived experiences in program and service design 
• Using technology to support cross-sector collaboration, securely collect actionable data, streamline care coordination, and measure the impact on people’s lives

The Launch

The Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation launched First 1,000 Days Suncoast in 2018 to improve care coordination and increase access to care for pregnant mothers and families with young children. Composed of more than 85 partner organizations, First 1,000 Days identifies the most pervasive barriers families face and develops innovative solutions to increase connections to help. The philanthropic dedication of numerous foundations and donors, including Sarasota Memorial Healthcare Foundation, support the operations and a dedicated team to lead the work.  

Following the Collective Impact Model, the initiative relies on Sarasota Memorial Health Care System as its backbone organization, which leads the strategy and operations. In 2020, First 1,000 Days turned to Unite Us to provide the technical infrastructure needed to support cross-sector collaboration. 

Screenings and Workflows

As the backbone agency, Sarasota Memorial has implemented various programs to better support families, including universal social drivers of health screenings and a Family Navigation service. 

Every time a maternity patient arrives in the hospital, a staff nurse talks with them about their social support needs. When they identify a need, the nurse notifies a case manager through the electronic health record system. Then the case manager visits the mother or parent to do a more thorough assessment of the whole family’s needs, including those of the parents, any caregivers, and other children in the household. After completing the assessment and gaining the individual’s consent, the case manager then securely sends referrals for needed social services through the Unite Us Platform. 

A First 1,000 Days Family Navigator responds to requests for help that come from mothers and families in the community through a public, Unite Us-powered assistance request form.

A New Maternal Health Ecosystem

In a survey on care experience, local care providers and families in Florida identified “difficulties navigating the healthcare system” as one of their top barriers to better maternal care. 

At a recent webinar, Meeting Mothers Where They Are: A Community and Person-Centered Approach to Care, leaders from Unite Us and Sarasota Memorial discussed both the program’s success and how it addressed challenges.

As Dr. Chelsea Arnold, the First 1,000 Days’ Manager at Sarasota Memorial, puts it, “With First 1,000 Days, we’ve moved from a maze of resources to a coordinated system of care that improves the health and well-being of mothers, families, and children.” 

“Gone are the days of people calling community agencies and hearing, ‘I’m sorry, we don’t know who can help.’ With Unite Us, we now have the resources, tools, and partnerships to connect the whole family to the right support.”

Results

Unite Us’ software allows program leaders to measure the impact of social needs interventions to improve maternal care quality. Presented by Unite Us Director of Research and Evaluation Dr. Amanda Terry and evaluation co-lead Dr. Arnold, the data illustrates that First 1,000 Days’ efforts have made significant improvements in maternal health outcomes at Sarasota Memorial. 

Specifically, when we compare patients receiving closed-loop referrals through Unite Us to matched patients receiving usual care (n=2,456), we saw statistically significant reductions in their odds of hospital readmission 30 days after delivery (p <.05). And the impact on health outcomes continues three, six, and twelve months after delivery. 

More details on this research and key metrics are available in this short case study. 

Key Takeaways

• The program made interventions easier and more effective. Sarasota Memorial case managers, nurses, and First 1,000 Days’ navigators can quickly and efficiently identify a family’s needs, take action to help them get the right support, and feel confident that any referrals or requests will be followed up. 
• Another powerful element of the program is its no-wrong-door approach. No matter where a family enters the system—whether through the hospital or one of First 1,000 Days’ partner organizations—they’ll quickly get the support they need. 
• The program leaders know how important it is to rely on parents’ lived experiences as experts in their own lives. As Dr. Terry stated, “Behind all the data and systems are real people with real stories, and those stories matter. Great care starts by listening closely to people with lived experiences, and incorporating their perspectives into programs designed to serve them.” 
• Blake Neathery, a one-time program participant who is now a community leader, says, “The best thing you can do is be authentic, honest, and supportive with families without judging them for what they’re going through. A lot of families are experiencing trauma and are really scared to share their challenges, and afraid of entering the system. What you say to them matters. Instead of asking ‘What’s wrong with you?’ we need to say, ‘What happened to you?’ and ‘What support do you need?’” 
• As mothers and families learn about the resources available to them, more are reaching out for help, knowing they will not be judged or rejected. This work is strengthening families and giving parents confidence in raising their children. 

A Scalable Solution

The success of First 1,000 Days Suncoast demonstrates the power of collaborative efforts that bring parents, community professionals, social services groups, and healthcare organizations together. The Unite Us Platform makes this impactful collaboration possible. 

With the insights Unite Us provides, our partners can identify changes in social services needs, understand inequities, and look at co-occurring needs to make sure they’re connected seamlessly. Working together with partner organizations will continue to expand programs and projects that improve maternal and family health.  

That’s a model that can be scaled and replicated in communities across America. Social services are extremely important for individual and community health, and their impact on health outcomes, costs, and quality of life is transformational. 

More Resources

• Watch the webinar on demand to hear from program leaders and learn from their experiences.
• Download this case study with more information on research and metrics.
• Read an interview with Dr. Chelsea Arnold.
• Get in touch with Unite Us to learn how you can apply these key findings to your needs and priorities.

The post How Social Care Improves Maternal Health Outcomes: Learn from Innovators at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System appeared first on uniteus.com.

Drivers of Health for Women and Children

There is no question that addressing maternal and child well-being is foundational to improving the overall health and well-being of our entire population. When women and children are healthy, their communities are healthy, too.

Despite this truth, health outcomes for women and children are trending in the wrong direction. The rising rates of maternal and infant mortality underscore the urgency of prioritizing this issue, particularly for populations that are disproportionately affected by social and structural drivers of health. Heartbreakingly, maternal mortality rates rose sharply in 2021, continuing a disturbing trend we’ve observed since 2018. And while infant mortality rates remained largely unchanged from 2020 to 2021, they are still far too high. The United States is a marked outlier on both counts, with maternal mortality rates three times higher than the average across industrialized nations and infant mortality rates that rank 33rd out of the 38 countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These outcomes also illustrate a health equity crisis demanding immediate attention: The maternal mortality rate is more than 2.5 times higher among Black women than among White women.

The reasons for these disparities are multi-faceted. The reality is that many factors contribute to maternal and infant mortality, with drivers of health—particularly economic and social conditions, interpersonal relationships, and environmental factors—playing a significant role. Women, particularly Black and Native American women and those living in poverty, are disproportionately affected by adverse drivers of health, as well as the structural factors that cause them.

For example, Black women are more likely than White women to experience poverty, live in neighborhoods with limited access to healthy food options, and face limited access to healthcare services. These factors contribute to a much higher risk of developing chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes and obesity—all of which are risk factors for maternal and infant mortality. To achieve equity in maternal and child health outcomes and create a healthier society overall, addressing drivers of health as well as the deeper conditions that underpin them is essential. 

Addressing Maternal and Child Well-Being

While the issue of maternal and child health is urgent and alarming, there is hope. The good news is that there are policies and programs that can address these disparities and help moms and babies live happier, healthier lives. When we improve access to affordable healthcare, invest in wrap-around social services, promote access to healthy food and safe housing, increase funding for maternal and child health programs, and focus on equity, we see better outcomes. 

Here at Unite Us, we’re proud to partner with leaders in healthcare, government, and community-based organizations across the country to fight the maternal health crisis. This Maternal Mental Health Month, we celebrated our partners contributing to this work across the country, and we welcomed new partners as we recommitted ourselves to achieving a world of healthy moms and healthy babies. 

At Unite Us, we’re committed to:

• Supporting a whole-person approach to the maternal health continuum by continuing to expand the support we provide to women and their children before, during, and after pregnancy. We understand the importance of connecting clinical and non-clinical services, including obstetricians, midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, government benefit programs, transportation assistance, and other programs and providers. Addressing drivers of health is integral to improving maternal and child outcomes and promoting healthy communities.
• Formalizing partnerships with home visiting programs across the country, supporting the important work they do with seamless, closed-loop referral capabilities. These programs play a critical role in ensuring the health and well-being of moms and babies by providing essential services such as breastfeeding support, counseling, and education. By formalizing partnerships, Unite Us can provide specialized support to these programs, such as closed-loop referral capabilities. This will streamline coordination and improve communication between home visiting programs and healthcare providers, contributing to better health outcomes for mothers and children across the country.
• Using data-driven insights to inform action by identifying gaps in services and disparities in access and outcomes. Unite Us can work with its partners to address these issues at a systemic level. For instance, by identifying areas where there is a lack of access to specific family support services, Unite Us can work with local healthcare providers to improve access to these vital services. Similarly, by identifying disparities in outcomes, Unite Us can support advocacy efforts and programmatic interventions that will reduce these disparities and improve overall health outcomes for moms and babies. By providing our partners data-driven insights to inform their strategies, we can keep making progress in the fight for maternal and child health and well-being.

To build on these efforts, Unite Us calls on communities to:

• Encourage more states to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage: States now have the permanent option to extend postpartum coverage for 12 months after pregnancy. Taking this option would reduce barriers to healthcare and, in some cases, support women’s access to wrap-around care to address health-related social needs during the crucial postpartum period.
• Expand the maternal health workforce by increasing access to paying doulas and community health workers (CHWs): States have adopted a range of mechanisms to pay these trusted members of the community and should continue to explore ways to support CHWs and doulas. Community-based doula support holds particular significance for individuals who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC), who more commonly distrust medical establishments due to historical and direct experiences of disrespect and racism from providers.
• Screen for physical health, mental health, and social needs at key points throughout the pregnancy and postpartum period: Providers must identify needs beginning at the very first prenatal appointment and connect individuals to local resources to address those needs during and after their pregnancy. Screenings and referrals for maternal depression, including during maternal and infant medical visits, are a key part of postpartum care.

Our shared work is just getting started. Will you join us? 

Get in Touch

The post Advocating for Community: Addressing the Health and Well-Being of Mothers and Children appeared first on uniteus.com.

Every path to motherhood is unique. Complex journeys require comprehensive solutions so that individuals feel supported throughout every phase of their reproductive and family health journey.

Discover how an innovative, cross-sector collaboration is proving that addressing patients’ social needs improves maternal health outcomes.

In this webinar, we discuss:

• Continuity of care and the need to provide support that extends beyond the clinical walls by engaging the community
• The importanace of lived experience and the role it should play in program design
• The role technology plays in supporting cross-sector collaboration—from collecting actionable data to streamlining care coordination—and measuring and proving impact

The post Meeting Mothers Where They Are: A Community and Person-Centered Approach to Care appeared first on uniteus.com.

The first 1,000 days of life are a critical period of rapid brain development that can influence a baby’s health over a lifetime. Drivers of health such as poverty, homelessness, substance use disorders, and race- and place-based inequities place added stress on children that increase the risk for poor health outcomes. 

First 1,000 Days Suncoast, a regional initiative spearheaded by the Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation and led by Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (SMHCS), was launched in 2018 to reduce systemic barriers to health for young families. It includes over 80 organizations that work together to support family resilience through cross-sector collaboration. 

One Client’s Story

“Lana,” a mother of two from Manatee County, had reached her breaking point. With an unstable living situation, no job, and no support, she did not know where to seek help. Thankfully, Lana met Tina Wilson, First 1,000 Days Navigator who sent referrals to appropriate services through Unite Us.

In a matter of months, Lana secured a job and received essential baby items for her children; assistance with transportation to doctors’ appointments for herself and her children; food; parenting education and support; and after a long road of unstable housing and homelessness, Lana now has a safe place she and her children can call home. Lana was extremely grateful for how First 1,000 Days, SMHCS, and Unite Us changed her life.

“I could just cry. I have come a long way and now my children are happier and more joyful.” – Lana, Mother of Two

(SMHCS) is a public community healthcare system with multiple campuses, clinics, and outpatient centers. Magnet-designated for the fourth time and among America’s 50 Best Hospitals, Sarasota Memorial offers a comprehensive level of care. Women and children’s services include: 

• Childbirth education 
• Labor and delivery unit:
  • High-risk antepartum patients 
  • Mother and baby unit 
  • Level III neonatal intensive care unit 
  • Maternal-neonatal transport
  • Pediatric unit 

SMHCS employs a small team that leads the operations of a regional initiative called First 1,000 Days Suncoast. Since 2020, SMHCS has partnered with Unite Us to provide resources and enhance care coordination for the community, resulting in support for families who urgently need it. After the initial implementation of Unite Us, Women and Children’s Services case managers reported an average time savings of four hours per week in coordinating services for families. This new efficiency could potentially equate to $7,000 in cost savings per case manager per year. 

For this series, we asked Sarasota Memorial’s Chelsea Arnold about our work together and their vision of how cross-sector collaboration creates lasting change for pregnant and parenting people.

As we reflect on a decade bringing sectors together through technology to ensure people’s needs are met, what do you think has changed the most for your organization since the start of our partnership in 2020?

Unite Us implementation began in SMHCS Women and Children’s Services through the First 1,000 Days Suncoast initiative. The positive results for this population prompted expansion throughout the entire healthcare system. SMHCS is dedicated to supporting the health of its community by connecting every patient with nonprofit, government, and healthcare partners. 

How does Sarasota Memorial think about or approach collaboration with other sectors? What are the benefits to the parents and families you serve and to your mission?

Serving the largest volume of underserved families and pregnant individuals in the Suncoast region and acting as the only public community healthcare system, SMHCS has the unique opportunity to ensure no one falls through the cracks in getting connected with care. Dedicated to supporting these families, SMHCS is the backbone organization of First 1,000 Days Suncoast. A devoted team within the Women and Children’s Division leads the operations of the initiative, which comprises over 80 partner organizations within the tri-county area. First 1,000 Days works collaboratively with government, healthcare, and nonprofit partners to address complex systemic issues, reduce persistent and pervasive disparities, and enhance preventative measures. 

Since the local Unite Us launch, SMHCS has seamlessly connected pregnant and postpartum individuals and pediatric patients with nonprofit partner agencies who can address social, medical, and mental health needs. Using lived experience and Unite Us data, First 1,000 Days Suncoast is working collaboratively with foundations and local leaders to address complex barriers to health and social care. 

This cross-sector collaboration has been a powerful way to come up with innovative solutions.  Using individual stories and marrying in the voices of families with their own lived experiences ensures we are building something that is effective, sustainable, and valuable.

Are there any upcoming programs or initiatives related to drivers of health and community health at Sarasota Memorial that you are excited about?

Multi-sector data, including Unite Us Insights Dashboards, have been used to identify community barriers, capacity concerns, and gaps in services—all with an emphasis on health for all. Understanding these system-wide issues has assisted with the allocation of resources and the development of innovative programs and interventions to assist high-risk families. 

In addition to screening all pregnant patients for drivers of health needs and postpartum follow-up wellness calls, many innovative community programs have been created through First 1,000 Days Suncoast. This includes the development of a Perinatal Mental Health Coordination Hub and Family Navigation program. Both programs support families outside of the hospital walls, connecting parents and caregivers with resources and providing support prior to a crisis.

Looking another ten years into the future, what is your biggest hope for cross-sector collaboration to improve community health?

Our hope is that by using a solution like Unite Us, coupled with lived experience and our robust partnerships, we can build effective and innovative programs to address barriers and location-based service needs.

What thoughts would you share with Unite Us leadership as they look out on the next 10 years?

Your organization has started a movement which will transform the way we look at healthcare.

Our current evaluation of drivers or health referrals sent through the Unite Us Platform and its impact on healthcare utilization will help healthcare systems understand return on investment in placing time, effort, and funding towards social care coordination infrastructure as a standard of care. Using this valuable data, leadership can also better dissect inequitable health outcomes, identify shifts in social service needs, partner with community agencies to address capacity concerns, and develop innovative projects and programs to improve community health.

About Dr. Chelsea Arnold, DNP, APRN, FNP-bc
Dr. Chelsea Arnold is Manager of First 1,000 Days Suncoast at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System. Prior to her current role, Dr. Arnold worked as a nurse practitioner, where she saw firsthand the struggles families faced navigating services in the community. From her education and experience, she knows how important the early years are for a child’s development—and that connecting families with resources is key to foster resilience. She is currently conducting research with SMHCS and Unite Us leaders on the impact of social care coordination on healthcare utilization, parental stress, and familial protective factors. 

Watch our webinar, Meeting Mothers Where They Are: A Community and Person-Centered Approach to Care, to hear more from Dr. Chelsea Arnold on how Sarasota Memorial Health Care System and Unite Us are working together to meet mothers where they are when they need it most.

Interested in learning more about how to bring Unite Us to your organization?

Get in Touch

The post Better Together: Collaborating for Family Resilience with Sarasota Memorial Health Care System appeared first on uniteus.com.

Collaborative innovations can help us remove barriers to accessing care; emphasize upstream, preventative programs; and integrate community and clinical resources to deliver whole-person, coordinated care.

In this webinar, experts from policy, industry, and community-based organizations (CBOs), will share their perspectives on new trends, best practices, and lessons learned.

Specifically, you will learn about:

• Recent trends, new policies, and programs
• Lessons learned to overcome barriers and bridge gaps
• Success stories and opportunities to drive impact on health outcomes

The post A Collaborative Approach to Improving Maternal Health appeared first on uniteus.com.

Improving maternal and child health outcomes is a top priority for decision-makers and community stakeholders across the country. However, we continue to have the highest maternal death rate of all developed countries, and we are the only industrialized nation with a rising rate. At Unite Us, we know we can do better. That’s why we are dedicated to advancing equity and improving maternal health outcomes for all pregnant people and new parents.

In a new report, we discuss maternal health challenges and priorities in the U.S. You will learn:

• Contributing factors to maternal health inequities
• Key policy priorities to improve maternal health
• Data solutions that take a human-centered approach to identifying needs and improving outcomes

Access the Report

The Role Community-Based Organizations Play in Improving Maternal Health Outcomes

Community-based organizations (CBOs) have long played a key role in addressing critical care gaps, advancing equity, and supporting the health of mothers and infants. Through their community-driven approaches and culturally competent models of care, CBOs are not only better equipped to address the unique challenges and unmet needs of mothers and infants across communities, but also provide access to wraparound services that go beyond traditional models of care. These services, which range anywhere from community-based doula programs to freestanding birth centers, demonstrate the importance of adopting a human-centered approach to identify needs and improve outcomes.

It is only by continuing to leverage evidence-based, novel interventions, that communities will be able to help meet mothers where they’re at, when they need help most.

Empowering Partners to Drive Change

At Unite Us, we work with community-based organizations, health systems, and government partners to ensure all women and infants, particularly those at risk of poor health outcomes, have a chance at a safe and healthy life.

We believe innovative and collaborative strategies should focus on removing barriers to accessing care, emphasizing preventative approaches and integrated community programs. Our shared, community-wide platform makes it easier for health, human, and social service providers to:

• Connect underserved pregnant people and new parents to coordinated care and resources, so they can get the care they need when they need it.
• Leverage proactive interventions such as home-visitation programs, prenatal care providers, and breastfeeding support.
• Increase access to high-quality maternal care by partnering with credible provider networks and social service agencies; building strong partnerships and learning collaboratives with public and private stakeholders help advance equitable maternal health care in the U.S.

Partner Spotlight: A Model of Coordinated Care Powered by Unite Us

We’re proud to partner with organizations like First 1,000 Days Sarasota, which connects families with community resources such as financial assistance, healthcare, and food during pregnancy and in the first 1,000 days of life.

Care coordination: Sixty-five organizations and over 110 unique programs have joined Unite Florida in Sarasota County, connecting CBOs, pediatricians, obstetricians, and local government agencies to provide care coordination to low-income families and their children.

Parent participation: A parent advisory committee ensures parents’ voices are woven into every aspect of the initiative. The group meets every other month and offers guidance on their social media campaign, community murals, and initiative marketing strategies.

Targeted interventions: First 1,000 Days Sarasota formed a county-wide Plan of Safe Care task force. The Plan of Safe Care is a federal mandate to identify and support pregnant women with a history of substance use by providing ongoing care coordination for the families after birth until the child is five years old. Sarasota County is pioneering an innovative program by partnering with Unite Us to pilot their care coordination platform.

With critical policy tools, willing community partners, and the right SDoH solutions coming into place, we can turn this crisis around. No family should have to grieve during what should be one of the most celebratory times in life.

Access the report to learn more about this partnership and how our data-powered, social care solution can drive change and positively impact maternal and infant health outcomes.

Interested in taking a collaborative approach to improving maternal health outcomes in your community? Watch our webinar to hear from industry experts on how adopting a collaborative approach is key when bridging gaps and driving better outcomes for new and expecting parents.

Watch the Webinar

The post Improving Maternal Health Through Collaborative Innovations appeared first on uniteus.com.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month but in reality, child abuse happens every day, of every month, of every year. Statistics from Childhelp, a leading child abuse prevention organization, show:

• Child abuse is common. A report of child abuse is made every 10 seconds in the United States.
• Long-term impacts of child abuse are staggering. Ischemic heart disease (IHD), Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), liver disease, and other health-related quality of life issues are tied to child abuse.
• Child abuse is deadly. In 2019, state agencies identified an estimated 1,840 children who died as a result of abuse and neglect—an average of five children a day.

At Unite Us, we believe that preventing child abuse and focusing on early intervention is the key to driving real change.

“In family support and child abuse prevention work, the idea of protective factors is one that draws attention to the responsibility and opportunity we all have in promoting health and well-being,” said Moira Kenney, Regional Network Director, West Coastat Unite Us. “The protective factors framework identifies five elements for a healthy, nurturing family and community environment: parental resilience, social connections, concrete support in times of need, knowledge of parenting and child development, and social and emotional competence of children.”

Protective Factors to Prevent Child Abuse

Our Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) research tells us community protective factors play a critical role in helping children function better at home, in school, and in the community. They also serve as safeguards, supporting parents who otherwise might be at risk, by helping them find the support and resources they need so they can parent effectively, even under the most stressful conditions. Communities with protective factors have access to:

• Safe, stable housing
• Nurturing and safe childcare
• Safe and engaging after school programs and activities
• Medical care and mental health services
• Economic and financial resources and assistance

National research experts and health-centered organizations agree that building communities with protective factors lead to fewer cases of child abuse. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Protective factors may lessen the likelihood of children being abused or neglected. Identifying and understanding protective factors are equally as important as researching risk factors.”

Building Strategic Partnerships to Address Child Abuse

Unite Us is proud to partner with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), a key champion for children and provider of resources for addressing child abuse and neglect. CASA is a national nonprofit program that recruits, trains, supervises, and supports community volunteers who advocate for abused and neglected children.

CASA lists the following as risk factors for child abuse and neglect:

• Parental stress. Risk factors may include mental health issues, adverse response to stress, and trauma history.
• Substance abuse. Studies have shown that between one and two-thirds of child abuse cases involve substance use.
• Teen parents. Higher rates of child abuse occur when parents are in their teenage years.
  Domestic violence. In 30% to 60% of families where spousal abuse is involved, mistreatment of the child also occurs.
• Poverty. Poverty can add to the probability of abuse and neglect.

When organizations like CASA have an efficient way to connect children and families to the wraparound services they need, we are better set up as a community to truly address the risk factors for child abuse and neglect.

“It’s fantastic to see that we can make the jobs of community volunteers just a little bit easier, reducing the time they spend tracking down services and support for the children they are helping,” said Kenney.

What support services do children and their families need most?

Data from Unite Us Coordinated Networks reveals children and their families need urgent assistance with the basics–food, housing, and individual/family support to grow and thrive. Figure 1 shows a breakdown of the top three co-occurring needs and requested services in communities served by a Unite Us network. Our network helps communities identify those in need and get them the right resources and support at the right time.

Providing parents, caregivers, and children with the economic support they need is critical to child abuse prevention, and the CDC agrees: “Strengthening household financial security can reduce child abuse and neglect by improving parents’ ability to satisfy children’s basic needs (e.g., food, shelter, medical care), provide developmentally appropriate child care, and reduce parental stress and depression, both risk factors for child abuse and neglect.”

Let’s work together to support thriving families

The saying “It takes a village to raise a child” is true, but it also takes a village to protect a child from abuse. Organizations like CASA are coming together to build systems of care that remove barriers between caregivers and organizations. Unite Us is committed to our role in this work by building the largest, most intuitive health and social care network possible. Our powerful platform makes care coordination easier and resources more visible, helping communities address stress factors which contribute to child abuse and neglect. The outcomes we are working toward set the stage for early prevention and intervention, ultimately making our communities safer and healthier for children. We can’t do this work alone, though. We need partners like you so we can help more families in our communities achieve resilience and access support. We all play an important role in preventing child abuse.

Does your organization work with parents, families, and/or children? Join the thousands of organizations that are already working together.

Contact Us

The post Preventing Child Abuse Through Coordinated Care appeared first on uniteus.com.