Search Results: MCHLine

Annotation: This guide for new mothers addresses postpartum health and wellness during the first year after childbirth. Topics include sleep strategies for mother and baby, dental health guidance, physical activity recommendations, planning for future pregnancies, and nutrition and healthy eating with specific guidance on important nutrients like iron, calcium, folic acid, and fiber. Culturally-informed recipes such as Golden Milk and Chinese Rice Soup are included. The guide also provides practical advice on managing common postpartum challenges such as breastfeeding difficulties, sleep deprivation, low energy, and symptoms of depression that may require seeking help. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale screening tool is included. Additional resources for mental health support, nutrition education, breastfeeding assistance, domestic violence help, and substance abuse treatment are located on the final pages.

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Keywords: Breastfeeding, California, Infant health, Maternal health, Mental health, Nutrition, Physical activity, Postpartum Depression, Postpartum care

Annotation: This brief offers lessons from six states on how federal Medicaid cuts result in reductions in access to oral health care for people with low incomes. Examples are provided about how cuts have restricted access to care, shifted costs from one part of the health care system to others (e.g, hospital emergency departments), and led oral health professionals to leave the Medicaid network. Information is presented on how cuts have affected California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oregon, and Pennsylvania.

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Keywords: Access to health care, California, Costs, Low income groups, Maryland, Massachusetts, Medicaid, Missouri, Oral health, Oregon, Pennsylvania, State information

Annotation: This report presents a roadmap of California's Birthing Care Pathway initiative launched by the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to address maternal health disparities and improve outcomes for pregnant and postpartum Medi-Cal members. It describes the current state of maternal health in California, highlighting concerning trends in pregnancy-related mortality and severe maternal morbidity with significant racial disparities affecting Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander individuals. The document outlines DHCS' strategic approach to improve maternal health through policy solutions developed with input from diverse stakeholders, including Medi-Cal members. Key components include strengthening provider access, enhancing clinical care coordination, providing whole-person care, and modernizing maternity care payment systems. The report details recent Medi-Cal policy enhancements for perinatal care and describes California's participation in the federal Transforming Maternal Health Model to further strengthen delivery systems in selected Central Valley counties.

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Keywords: California, Health care disparities, Maternal health, Maternal morbidity, Maternal mortality, Model programs, Perinatal care, Policy development, Postpartum care, Quality improvement, State initiatives, Trends

Annotation: This research brief provides an overview of funding mechanisms for state paid family and medical leave (PFML) programs in the United States. The brief explains that PFML programs are self-sustaining, funded through payroll contributions (premiums) from workers, employers, or both, with no ongoing state funding required. The document features diagrams showing funding flows, premium rates across states, and historical premium trends, highlighting that PFML premiums remain affordable, typically below 1% of wages. The brief details key policy decisions states must make regarding start-up funding, premium responsibility, contribution wage bases, small business exemptions, and premium caps. It includes several state policy spotlights, such as California's elimination of wage thresholds for premium collection and Minnesota's scaled premium reductions for small businesses. The document includes additional resources for policymakers considering PFML programs.

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Keywords: California, Employee assistance programs, Employee benefits, Family leave, Funding, Initiatives, Minnesota, Parental leave, Policy development, State programs

Annotation: This article examines lessons learned from California's experience with perinatal community health workers (CHWs) and provides recommendations for policy makers designing similar programs. It discusses how perinatal CHWs can help address disparities in maternal health outcomes by providing culturally appropriate support throughout pregnancy and postpartum periods. The authors, drawing from 15 years of experience in California's Medicaid system, outline key considerations including adequate reimbursement rates, payment flexibility for services provided in both clinical and community settings, program coordination to prevent inefficiencies, standardized data collection methods, and support systems to prevent CHW burnout. The document includes specific examples from programs at San Francisco General Hospital and Los Angeles County, and discusses implications for state Medicaid programs participating in CMS's new Transforming Maternal Health Model.

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Keywords: Barriers, California, Community health workers, Maternal health, Models, Payment, Perinatal care, Policy development, Postpartum care, Reimbursement, State programs

Annotation: This blog post details policy and programmatic strategies states are implementing to strengthen the perinatal health care system, improve maternal health outcomes, and address disparities, particularly noting that Black women are 2.6 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than White women. Based on an analysis of states’ strategic plans, the key priorities for supporting pregnant and postpartum women include (1) ensuring access to timely and high-quality care, citing examples such as Iowa’s Obstetrics Mobile Simulation Training Program and North Carolina’s Region IV Provider Support Network; (2) developing and sustaining the perinatal workforce, citing examples such as Illinois DocAssist, a free statewide psychiatric access program, and New Jersey’s Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Center; and (3) supporting high-quality care coordination, citing examples such as California’s Enhanced Care Management Birth Equity Population of Focus under CalAIM and Texas’s High-Risk Maternal Care Coordination Services Program.

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Keywords: Access to care, Blacks, California, Healthcare disparities, Illinois, Iowa, Maternal health, New Jersey, North Carolina, Perinatal care, Policy, State initiatives, Strategic plans, Texas

Annotation: This manual provides information about school-linked oral health programs (programs that identify children who need oral health care and then coordinate care with a health professional in the community) for local oral health agencies in California. The manual offers background information about the California Dental Disease Prevention Program and presents a school-linked program model. The model covers selecting schools; programs' educational and outreach requirements; planning, including developing referral criteria, creating a network of dentists, using a referral-management and collection platform, and establishing performance measures; and developing protocols. Also discussed are referral management and care coordination and evaluation.

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Keywords: California, Care coordination, Community coordination, Community programs, Measures, Oral health, Pediatric dentistry, Program evaluation, Referrals, School dentistry, School health, State programs

Annotation: This brief describes closed-loop referrals in California (defined as referring Medi-Cal managed care plan participants to available community resources, coordinating the referral, and following up to help ensure that care, including oral health care, was provided). The brief offers recommendations for successful closed-loop referrals for children and families who are Medi-Cal participants. It also discusses considerations for closed-loop referrals for infants and young children, school-age children, and adolescents, including those in foster care. Opportunities for building an infrastructure and partnerships foundational to closed-loop referrals are presented.

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Keywords: Adolescent health, California, Followup, Foster care, Health insurance programs, Infant health, Low income groups, Oral health, Referrals, School-age children, State programs, Young children

Annotation: This toolkit is designed to help oral health professionals in California integrate tobacco-cessation interventions into routine oral health care. It provides tools and evidence-based resources that oral health professionals can use or share with their patients who use tobacco. Information is offered on trends in tobacco products and use in California, oral health professionals’ role in tobacco cessation, tobacco dependence and the benefits of quitting, and FDA-approved medications for tobacco cessation. Brief interventions for use in dental settings are included.

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• Webinar Companion To The Toolkit

Keywords: California, Intervention, Oral health, Smoking cessation, State materials, Tobacco use

Annotation: This report focuses on key areas that are impacting the health and well being of women in the state of California, including poverty, employment status, technology, the media, changing demographics, leadership, women in the military, and mental and physical health. The research and statistics highlight trends and insights on why gender gaps continue to exist within the state. Data on racial and ethnic health disparities is included, along with figures that compare statistical data in the state of California with national averages. Data on obesity, infant mortality, substance abuse, breastfeeding, and other health-related variables are interspersed throughout the report, which is intended to inspire college students at Mount St. Mary's College to affect change.

• 2022 Edition
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Keywords: California, Gender, Geographic factors, Health status disparities, State surveys, Statistical data, Women's health

Annotation: This report examines racial and ethnic inequities in children's access to developmental services through California's Department of Developmental Services (DDS). It quantifies and evaluates inequities in service access and expenditures and examines the effectiveness of the set of measures developed by DDS to monitor and prevent inequities related to race, culture, and primary language spoken. A summary of findings is provided along with recommendations for legislative improvements that could help eliminate disparities to services for children with developmental disabilities in the state of California.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Barriers, California, Children with developmental disabilities, Cultural factors, Ethnic factors, Racial factors, State legislation

Annotation: This Medicaid Policy Cheat Sheet explores new initiatives for maternity and reproductive health care in California. The state of California is seeking to advance more whole-person care for pregnant and birthing people, and to ensure and expand access to reproductive health care. The programs described in the document can serve as models for other states.

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Keywords: California, Health equity, Maternal health, Medicaid, Policy development, Pregnancy, Pregnant women

Annotation: This toolkit to support vaginal birth and reduce primary cesarean sections includes evidence-based tools and resources to support pregnant patients who transfer to the hospital from a community birth center and to effectively integrate midwifery care and doula support into the hospital setting. The toolkit serves as a “how to” guide to help educate and motivate maternity clinicians to apply best practices to support vaginal birth. Included are strategies to (1) improve the culture of care, awareness, and education for cesarean reduction; (2) support intended Vaginal Birth; (3) manage labor abnormalities and safely reduce cesarean births; and (4) use data to drive reduction in cesareans. Twenty appendices include checklists, guidelines, partograms, performance measures, and assessment tools for healthcare providers.

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Keywords: Birthing Centers, California , Cesarean section, Childbirth, Doulas, Hospitals Quality assurance, Labor, Midwives, Model programs, Pregnant women, Prevention, Vaginal birth

Annotation: This paper describes a teledentistry program at the University of California, Irvine, Family Health Center, to improve prenatal care. It discusses how the center is implementing the use of teledentistry, how the process works, and considerations for other centers interested in implementing a teledentistry program.

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Keywords: California, Health programs, Oral health, State programs, Teledentistry

Annotation: This manual provides information about community water fluoridation (CWF) in California. It explains what CWF is and discusses its history in the state. It guides users through a step-by-step process of advocating for CWF. Topics include strategy, education and advocacy, policymaking, preventing or reversing a rollback, capital funding, and communicating with operations.

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Keywords: Advocacy, California, Financing, Fluoride, Health education, Oral health, Prevention, Public policy, State information, Water

Annotation: This report records how, in a pilot program conducted by the Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH), in partnership with the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative (CMQCC), three hospitals in the state of California were able to lower the rate of low-risk first-time Cesarian sections by 20% in one year. Subsequently, the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) funded a state-wide initiative built on the lessons learned to lower the rate of unnecessary Cesarian section births from 26.0% to 22.9 %, between 2015 and 2020. Initiatives to accomplish this goal included collecting and sharing accurate data, providing toolkits to providers, ensuring patient engagement, and supporting policies and payment/purchaser requirements. [Original pilot funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.]

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Keywords: California, California, Cesarean section, Health equity, Minority groups, State initiatives

Annotation: This August 4, 2022 recording features a comprehensive panel discussion on telehealth applications within Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) programs, showcasing diverse perspectives from across North America. Bill Campbell presents on Remote Infant Auditory Brainstem Response Assessment in Ontario, highlighting improved service access despite technological challenges, while Todd Houston discusses findings from a Journal of EHDI monograph emphasizing telehealth benefits and the need for specialized training. Arlene Stredler Brown shares Colorado research on telehealth equity considerations, revealing provider and family feedback indicating a need for enhanced training in family-centered early intervention approaches. Alex Meibos provides technical insights on audiology telehealth platforms, noting that many hearing aid manufacturers offer online solutions adaptable for early intervention. Pamela Dawson contributes telehealth resource information specific to the Northeast region, and Julie Purdy rounds out the presentation with California survey data on implementing Oticon hearing aid online platforms and affordable home otoscopy options using smartphone applications, collectively demonstrating how telehealth is transforming accessibility and delivery of pediatric audiology services nationwide.

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Keywords: Telemedicine, Audiology, Deafness, Hearing tests, Hearing screening, Infant health, Children's health, Program evaluation, Canada, Ohio, Colorado, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, California

Annotation: This paper provides information from a summit focusing on difficulties people with special health care needs face in accessing oral health care in California. Topics include oral health care for children vs. adults with special health care needs, financial considerations, and steps toward solutions.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Adults with special health care needs, California, Children with special health care needs, Conferences, Oral health, State information

Annotation: This oral health plan provides an agenda for achieving a set of objectives to improve oral health equity and well-being for Californians. The plan provides information about the California Partnership, background information about oral health in California, supporting the plan, transitioning the California Oral Health Plan Advisory Committee to the Partnership for Oral Health, and the meaning of "partnership" in the context of the plan. The partnership structure and operations are discussed, and next steps are presented.

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Keywords: California, Oral health, Oral health equity, Partnerships, Statewide planning

Annotation: This report presents results from the 2018–2019 California Third Grade Smile Survey. The report provides background on tooth decay in children in California and presents key findings related to tooth decay experience, untreated decay, and dental sealant prevalence; disparities in tooth decay and untreated tooth decay, and dental sealant prevalence by race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status; and regional variations in children's oral health across the state. Strategies for improving children's health as delineated in California's 2018–2028 oral health plan are discussed, along with methodology and limitations. Definitions of terms are included.

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Keywords: California, Child health, Dental caries, Dental sealants, Ethnic factors, Socioeconomic factors, Oral health, Oral health equity, Racial factors, State information, Surveys