Akpovi EE, Carter T, Kangovi S, Srinivas SK, Bernstein JA, Mehta PK. Medicaid member perspectives on innovation in prenatal care delivery: A call to action from pregnant people using unscheduled care. Healthc (Amst). 2020 Dec;8(4):100456. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2020.100456. Epub 2020 Aug 28. PMID: 32992103.
Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Social Supports, Care Coordination, Prenatal Care Access,
Intervention Description: The study proposed an intervention framework based on the themes and ideas generated from the qualitative analysis of participant perspectives. The proposed intervention design included three overarching thematic domains: (1) social support in the form of accompaniment and reassurance, (2) improved care delivery with greater consistency, communication, and individualization of outpatient prenatal care, and (3) improved access to outpatient prenatal care, convenient appointment availability, and uninterrupted insurance coverage during pregnancy , . The proposed intervention features included integrating CHWs into care teams and existing childbirth education, connecting pregnant individuals with social services resources, group prenatal care support, health information exchange, prenatal passport cards or applications, visit checklists, advanced access scheduling, enhanced care team visibility, drop-in pregnancy support center, insurance screening and enrollment, and CHW support for navigation and continuity . The intervention design aimed to improve trust and impact of prenatal care, advance equitably improved outcomes, and address unmet needs in those at risk for poor pregnancy outcome
Intervention Results: The study identified unique unmet needs and ideas for improving prenatal care among pregnant women with different patterns of unscheduled care utilization. Participants expressed a desire for social support interventions that address unmet psychosocial needs, care coordination, accompaniment, and navigation for at-risk pregnant women, while also addressing broader needs such as insurance eligibility, navigation to community-based resources, and access to timely prenatal care . The proposed intervention framework aimed to address these needs and improve prenatal care delivery for low-SES, Medicaid-insured, predominantly Black, pregnant women . The study also identified limitations, including a small sample size and potential social desirability bias . Overall, the study offers the opportunity to leverage qualitative narratives, tailor and adapt intervention design to meet the specific needs of a hard-to-engage population, and reduce inequitable, preventable maternal morbidity and mortality .
Conclusion: The study concluded that the use of a qualitative study design generated person-centered intervention elements that can improve trust and impact of prenatal care. The findings focused on the differential needs and ideas of pregnant women with unique patterns of utilization of unscheduled care, demonstrating a need for embedding targeted social support alongside clinical care to advance equitably improved outcomes. The study suggested that targeted interventions incorporating user ideas and addressing unique unmet needs of specific subgroups may improve perinatal outcomes. The proposed intervention elements may help maternity care systems improve health care delivery for Black, low-SES pregnant women by specifically focusing on community health worker (CHW) integration to address unmet psychosocial needs, care coordination, accompaniment, and navigation for at-risk pregnant women, while also addressing broader needs such as insurance eligibility, navigation to community-based resources, and access to timely prenatal care , .
Study Design: The study utilized a participatory action, qualitative research design to explore the perspectives and experiences of pregnant women regarding their prenatal care, barriers to care, and unscheduled care utilization in an obstetric triage unit. The qualitative analysis involved conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with pregnant women at the point of unscheduled hospital-based obstetric care, prompting participants regarding perspectives on group prenatal care and community health worker (CHW) interventions, and asking open-ended questions regarding ideas for improving care 2, 2. The qualitative data obtained from these interviews were then analyzed using grounded theory to identify major themes and develop an intervention framework aligned with participant perspectives
Setting: The setting for the study was an academic hospital outpatient setting, where pregnant women enrolled in a prenatal clinic were interviewed at the point of unscheduled hospital-based obstetric care in a triage unit . This setting allowed the researchers to gather insights from pregnant women who had experienced unscheduled care and to explore their perspectives on group prenatal care and community health worker (CHW) interventions, as well as their ideas for improving care
Population of Focus: The target audience for the study included pregnant women, particularly those from low socioeconomic status (SES) and Medicaid-insured, predominantly Black, pregnant women. The study aimed to capture the perspectives and experiences of this specific demographic group regarding their prenatal care, unscheduled care utilization, and ideas for improving care delivery
Sample Size: The study enrolled a total of 40 participants, who were categorized into two groups: Group 1 (n = 20) and Group 2 (n = 20) . These groups were defined based on the degree of utilization of unscheduled care during pregnancy, allowing for a comparative qualitative analysis of participant ideas for improving prenatal care. The sample size of 40 participants provided a substantial basis for capturing diverse perspectives and experiences related to prenatal care and unscheduled care utilization.
Age Range: The study did not explicitly mention the age range of the participants. However, it provided the mean age of the participants in Group 1 as 25.5 years and in Group 2 as 25.0 years . This suggests that the participants were generally in their mid-20s, but without specific details on the age range.
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