Search Results: MCHLine

Annotation: The principle aim of this project was to demonstrate a coordinated, community-based program model for the screening, evaluation, and treatment of children from birth to five years of age with developmental disabilities, children at risk for them, and for their families. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

Keywords: Children with special health care needs, Collaboration, Developmental disorders, Early intervention, Family centered care, Interagency cooperation, community based care

Annotation: This project provided a model program for American Indian families and the professionals who served them. The program goals were to identify cultural, systemic, institutional, and policy barriers that inhibit Native American family participation in the "Western" health care/case management system; improve case management by facilitating effective communication between Native American families and the non-Native American health care professionals who serve them; and increase Native American family participation in health care policy development and planning forums in order to promote changes that improve services for Native American children and families. Activities included developing a videotape illustrating effective cross-cultural communication strategies for non-Indian health care providers and training an Indian parent advocate to help families seen at IHS special pediatric clinics. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

Keywords: American Indians, Case Management, Chronically Ill, Community-Based Health Care, Coordination of Health Care, Developmentally Delayed/Disabled, Family-Based Health Care, Indian Health Service (IHS), Low income groups, Parents, Rural Population

Annotation: This project was part of an ongoing effort to identify and address issues related to developmental disabilities among Native American children in Wisconsin to assure that proper diagnostic and followup services are provided to this population. Tribes, State and local agencies, and volunteer organizations were involved in a collaborative effort to design and establish a long-term, community-based, high quality program in each tribal community in Wisconsin to serve the special health care needs of Native American children. The two main goals of the project were to: (1) Become an integral part of the tribal service systems, and (2) improve those systems in such a way that they address both the needs of developmentally disabled children and the issues related to the prevention of disabilities. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

Keywords: American Indians, Community-Based Health Care, Coordination of Health Care, Data Collection, Developmentally Delayed/Disabled, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Annotation: This guide for health center staff describes a set of interprofessional oral health core clinical competencies designed to foster integration of oral health care into primary care. The guide also provides information about three pilot projects’ experiences related to implementing the competencies. Contents include recommendations to inform planning, training systems, health information systems, clinical care systems, and evaluation systems.

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Keywords: Barriers, Clinics, Community health centers, Interdisciplinary approach, Oral health, Primary care, Program development, Service integration, Systems development

Annotation: This report examines how state and territorial health agencies can advance sustainable financing for community health worker (CHW) programs as COVID-19-related grant funding expires and new Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement opportunities emerge. It presents strategies for state/territorial health agencies to establish clear CHW policies, support effective implementation of Medicaid and Medicare CHW policies, help community-based organizations develop sustainable funding models, and align CHW training and certification programs with financing opportunities. The report includes examples from multiple states' approaches to CHW program sustainability and provides detailed appendices on state staffing structures, relevant federal grants, and CHW-related strategies in state health improvement plans.

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Keywords: Community health workers, Financing, Health agencies, Medicaid, Medicare, Models, Policy development, State initiatives

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 policy snapshot examines community-based doula policies across states as part of the 2024 Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap, identifying doulas as one of 12 evidence-based policies that impact the prenatal-to-3 system of care. The document explains that community-based doulas are trained social service professionals who provide non-clinical emotional, physical, and informational support to expectant parents from pregnancy through the postpartum period, and when integrated into larger support systems can improve child health outcomes, parenting behaviors, and birth outcomes. It identifies two key policy levers for states: expanding access through Medicaid coverage and reimbursement of doula services, and bolstering workforce sustainability through financial support for training and development. The snapshot shows which states cover and reimburse community-based doula services under Medicaid and which states provide financial support for doula training.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Community based services, Doulas, Medicaid, Policy development, Reimbursement, State policies, Statistics, Work force, trends

Annotation: This report presents an overview of important elements to consider when incorporating social determinants of health (SDoH)--defined as the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes--into a community health strategy. It describes SDoH factors, including education access, quality healthcare, strong neighborhood and built-environment, economic stability, and social and community context, and it explains how data provides an additional layer of valuable information. Principles for the ethical use of SDoH, importance of SDoH in identifying barriers to care, tracking the policy landscape, assessing SDoH programs, and common challenges are among the topics addressed.

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Keywords: Community programs, Health equity, Initiatives, Model programs, Program development, Public health, Social factors

Annotation: This toolkit guides the development and implementation of community-based doula programming into clinical settings specifically to prevent maternal and infant mortality inequities in Black birthing families. The document describes the partnership Sistas Caring 4 Sistas, an established community-based doula program in Asheville, NC, and the UNC-affiliated Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC), It presents a framework for collaboration between healthcare clinics and community-based doulas covering planning considerations, project work components including capacity building and clinical shift implementation, and policy change initiatives. The toolkit includes evaluation methods, lessons learned, and recommendations for getting started with such partnerships. It emphasizes the importance of organizational leadership support, mutual respect, and adequate administrative infrastructure for healthcare institutions seeking to partner with community-based doula organizations.

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Keywords: Blacks, Childbirth, Community coordination, Community health services, Doulas, Health inequities, Local initiatives, Program development

Annotation: This brief highlights two promising examples of partnerships between child care providers and food access initiatives. Both partnerships received grant funding form Walmart Foundation's Healthier Food Access program, which provides support to innovative programs addressing food access. The brief focuses on three strategies: One that supports children and families directly; one that fosters the capacity of child care providers and their ability to support child nutrition in their own care settings; and one that organizes at a systems level to better coordinate efforts that target families with young children. Included are recommendations for building similar partnerships in local communities.

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Keywords: Child care services, Child nutrition, Community participation, Food, Model programs, Partnerships, Program development, Young children

Annotation: This report presents findings from a five-year nationwide initiative to improve population-based children's developmental health and family well-being outcomes across 12 states. The evaluation focuses on four key areas: building connections between state and local early childhood systems, expanding early childhood systems through infrastructure and capacity building, implementing policy changes, and developing partnerships. The report examines efforts to increase age-appropriate development skills among 3-year-old children and reduce developmental disparities. [Funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau]

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Keywords: Collaboration, Community coordination, Developmental screening, Early childhood development, Federal initiatives, Model programs, Partnership, Policy development, Service delivery systems, State initiatives

Annotation: This report provides information about the importance of oral health throughout the life-span, the economic costs of oral disease and oral health disparities, and efforts to improve access to preventive oral health services in Michigan. Topics include gains made in increasing access statewide through the expansion of Healthy Kids Dental, a public-private partnership between the Michigan Department of Community Health and Delta Dental; maintenance of dental benefits for adults enrolled in Medicaid; community water fluoridation; and dental sealants.

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Keywords: Access to health care, Adults, Barriers, Children, Coalitions, Community action, Dental sealants, Fluorides, Health care disparities, Infants, Life course, Medicaid, Michigan, Older adults, Oral health, Policy development, Preventive health services, Public private partnerships, State programs, Statewide planning, Water, Wisconsin

Annotation: This document describes strategies for planning and providing recess in schools to help increase participation in physical activity and improve academic achievement. Contents include information about the definition and benefits of recess and national guidance and considerations for recess in schools. Topics include making leadership decisions, communicating and enforcing behavior and safety expectations, creating an environment supportive of physical activity during recess, engaging the school community to support recess, gathering information on recess, and taking action. Additional planning resources, case studies, a video, and infographics are also available.

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Keywords: Academic achievement, Child health, Child safety, Community action, Decision making, Leadership, Multimedia, Physical activity, Policy development, Program planning, School age children, School health, Schools, Students

Annotation: This report examines the evidence on the status of health disparities and the research examining the underlying conditions that lead to poor health and health inequities. It also examines and shares examples of solutions implemented in several communities. Topics include the need to promote health equity, the state of health disparities in the United States, the root cause of health inequity, the role of communities in promoting health equity, examples of communities tackling health inequity, policies to support community solutions, partners in promoting health equity in communities, and community tools to promote health equity.

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Keywords: Collaboration, Communities, Community action, Community based services, Equal opportunities, Health disparities, Health promotion, Health status, Policy development, Public private partnerships

Annotation: This document is designed to help schools develop a school recess plan that can be shared with staff, students, and parents. Contents include questions that schools can consider to help them choose strategies to implement or to help them evaluate their current efforts, templates that schools can use to record information about the strategies they choose for their school recess plans, and key resources that align with the recommended recess strategies and provide additional information and examples of how to address these strategies. A companion document, Strategies for Recess in Schools, and additional planning resources; case studies; a video; and infographics are also available.

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Keywords: Academic achievement, Child health, Child safety, Community action, Decision making, Evaluation, Leadership, Multimedia, Physical activity, Planning, Policy development, Resources for professionals, School age children, School health, Schools, Students

Annotation: This paper summarizes epidemiology reports and other evidence of drinking fountain-related health issues to reveal the extent of the problem and explores changes needed to improve the quality and use of this hydration option. Topics include a brief history of water fountains, evidence of contamination at water fountains such as microbial and heavy metal contamination, the Safe Drinking Water Act and national drinking water standards, and guidelines for cleaning and maintaining drinking water fountains. The paper concludes with a discussion of efforts needed to expand the science and practice of ensuring that drinking fountains remain clean, safe, and accessible.

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Keywords: Community base services, Environmental exposure, Federal legislation, Guidelines, Policy development, Public health infrastructure, Regulations, Safety, Standards, Water, Water pollution

Annotation: This brief defines toxic stress from a community perspective and presents a framework for a community approach to addressing toxic stress, nested within the broader context of working toward healthy development and well-being. The brief also provides examples of how communities are taking action and recommendations for next steps to promote and further develop comprehensive approaches to toxic stress in communities across the country. Strategies for parents and caregivers; service providers; and multisystem, community partners and policymakers are included.

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Keywords: Advocacy, Child development, Child health, Communication, Communities, Community action, Community based services, Community role, Coordination, Early childhood, Families, Health education, Leadership, Models, Organizational change, Parents, Policy development, Protective factors, Social change, Stress, Systems development, Young children

Annotation: These resources are designed to help working group leaders contribute to a successful collective impact initiative. Contents include modules on how to build membership, plan for and run an effective meeting, build a culture of collaboration, put systems thinking into practice, engage community members, and be data-driven and learn along the way. Additional contents include sample working group strategies, meeting planning steps for co-chairs, meeting agenda templates, and a meeting follow-up email template.

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Keywords: Collaboration, Community action, Facilitated communication, Leadership, Learning, Meetings, Planning, Systems development

Annotation: This paper provides information about initiating interprofessional networks that integrate and coordinate person-centered oral health care in rural communities. Topics include oral health as a national issue with rural implications, interprofessional practice and the oral-systemic health connection, creating networks and a learning collaborative, state offices of rural health and medicaloral expanded care initiation, and challenges and opportunities for innovation. Examples from Colorado, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina are included.

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Keywords: Collaboration, Colorado, Community based services, Health care delivery, Information systems, Oral health, Oral health care, Pennsylvania, Program coordination, Provider networks, Rural environment, Rural health, Rural population, Service integration, South Carolina, State initiatives, Systems development, Technology, Work force

Annotation: This paper proposes community schools as a strategy for school improvement. Topics include what a community school looks like at the school level, how community schools support provisions in the Every Student Succeeds Act, and how states can support community schools. Information about community school and initiative exemplars, resources, and partners are included.

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Keywords: Adolescents, Children, Coalitions, Collaboration, Community coordination, Community participation, Equal opportunities, Families, Learning, Models, Organizational change, Program improvement, Public private partnerships, Relationships, School districts, Schools, Service integration, Social support, Systems development