Better together: Addressing maternal and child health outcomes through community health worker continuing education curricula

Background. The incidence of birth defects is a significant public health issue in the United States, adversely affecting the quality of life for parents as well as children born with these defects. Minority populations face a greater burden of birth defects and associated health problems. Prenatal practices can have a large impact on infant health outcomes. Several behaviors during pregnancy, including the intake of folic acid, can greatly influence the likelihood of a child being born with a birth defect. Community Health Workers have been shown to be effective agents at improving prenatal practices, especially when they facilitate support groups that feature pregnant women. ^ Methods. A continuing education curriculum has been created for Community Health Workers that provides content in the area of Maternal and Child Health. Content was selected after conducting a review of relevant literature and theory. Materials for conducting a training for Community Health Workers have been created in addition to materials that were designed for the population with whom the CHWs work. ^ Results. A description of each "key point" of the curriculum and a justification how it relates to the literature of the prevention of birth defects is given here. Additionally, the process of creating the curriculum using the platform delineated in the methods is described. ^ Discussion. Insights for future curriculum development are discussed along with next steps in the process of certifying the curriculum at the state level. A framework for future evaluation of the curriculum is given.^

Maternal and Child Health Center, ca. 1990

side 2

Employers and child care : benefiting work and family.

Mode of access: Internet.

Building urban MCH connections : 1990 Urban Maternal and Child Health Leadership Conference conference proceedings /

"Peck, M.G., and Melinkovich, P. (Eds.)"--P. [iv].

The community welfare picture as health and welfare statistics in 29 urban areas, 1938. A summary of expenditures for health and welfare activities and of reports of cases dealt with in the fields of relief and child care. Children's bureau, U.S. Department of labor.

Reproduced from type-written copy.

Report to Congress on fiscal year 1991 maternal and child health activities and health status : Title V, Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant.

Shipping list no.: 95-0074-P.

Medicare, Medicaid, and maternal and child health block grant budget issues : hearing before the Committee on Finance, United States Senate, One Hundredth Congress, first session.

Item 1038-A, 1038-B (microfiche).

ASCIA guidelines for prevention of food anaphylactic reactions in schools, preschools and child-care centres

These guidelines have been developed by the anaphylaxis working party of the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy to provide advice for minimizing the risk of food-induced anaphylaxis in schools, preschools and child-care centres. The guidelines outline four steps for the prevention of food anaphylactic reactions in children at risk and food policy measures specific to school age and preschool age children.

Iowa Department of Public Health Maternal and Child Health Administrative Manual 4th Edition, October 23, 2012

The MCH Administrative Manual provides the basis for the development of business practices and programming for maternal and child health services made available through an Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) competitive bid process every five years. For each five year project period, policies in the manual provide the basis for the competitive Request for Proposal (RFP). During intervening years, policies provide the basis for the RFP and the Request for Application (RFA) covering the applicable contract year.

Agreed-upon procedures reports on twelve agreements between the Bureau of Nutrition and Health Services of the Iowa Department of Education and child care centers for the period October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015

Agreed-upon procedures reports on twelve agreements between the Bureau of Nutrition and Health Services of the Iowa Department of Education and child care centers for the period October 1, 2014 through September 30, 2015

Analysis of maternal and child health policies in Malawi: The methodological perspective

The question of why most health policies do not achieve their intended results continues to receive a considerable attention in the literature. This is in the light of the recognized gap between policy as intent and policy as practice, which calls for substantial research work to understand the factors that improve policy implementation. Although there is substantial work that explains the reasons why policies achieve or fail to achieve their intended outcomes, there are limited case studies that illustrate how to analyze policies from the methodological perspective. In this article, we report and discuss how a mixed qualitative research method was applied for analyzing maternal and child health policies in Malawi. For the purposes of this article, we do not report research findings; instead we focus our dicussion on the methodology of the study and draw lessons for policy analysis research work. We base our disusssion on our experiences from a study in which we analyzed maternal and child health policies in Malawi over the period from 1964 to 2008. Noting the multifaceted nature of maternal and child health policies, we adopted a mixed qualitative research method, whereby a number of data collection methods were employed. This approach allowed for the capturing of different perspectives of maternal and child health policies in Malawi and for strengthening of the weaknesses of each method, especially in terms of data validity. This research suggested that the multidimensional nature of maternal and child health policies, like other health policies, calls for a combination of research designs as well as a variety of methods of data collection and analysis. In addition, we suggest that, as an emerging research field, health policy analysis will benefit more from case study designs because they provide rich experiences in the actual policy context.

A educação permanente em saúde para a institucionalização de uma rede-rizoma

Esta dissertação é resultado de uma pesquisa-intervenção cuja produção de dados ocorreu com o Grupo Condutor Regional da Rede Cegonha (GCR) no DRS III de Araraquara - SP, parte do Projeto de Pesquisa para o Sistema Único de Saúde (PPSUS): O processo de implantação da rede de atenção à saúde materno infantil no DRS III de Araraquara: a atenção básica como ordenadora da atenção em rede. Nosso objetivo foi compreender este coletivo como espaço de Educação Permanente em Saúde (EPS) para a institucionalização dessa Rede, e também caracterizar a EPS no território de abrangência deste DRS, compreender suas fragilidades-potencialidades e também os processos de EPS produzidos no interior do GCR para a implementação da Rede Cegonha (RC), diante de desafios como a redução da morbimortalidade materno infantil e o atendimento integral e humanizado a mulheres e crianças. Esta pesquisa qualitativa compreendeu a análise de documentos e a pesquisa-intervenção, utilizando método cartográfico, e a produção dos dados ocorreu no ano de 2014 com os integrantes do GCR e outros pesquisadores PPSUS. As análises tiveram como referenciais o Processo de Trabalho em Saúde e conceitos do movimento institucionalista, das correntes da Análise Institucional e da Esquizoanálise. Esta pesquisa de cunho cartográfico explorou o contexto sócio-histórico da EPS e da RC no DRS III e paisagens que compõem o mapa do aprendizado no que chamamos Rede-rizoma, entremeadas por análises de implicações e aprendizados na experiência, tanto de construção da pesquisa como da RC. Nos planos do rizoma houve momentos de aprendizado significativo, ecos nos municípios, interferências da pesquisa-intervenção, dentre outros componentes de tessitura da rede que envolveram seus atores, seus pontos de conexão, de tensão, de apoio. Nesse emaranhado quente e frio, interessou-nos explorar as singularidades do encontro e os movimentos de forças instituintes e do instituído com o compromisso de entender a EPS como ferramenta de trabalho para a institucionalização da RC. Percebemos a existência de microprocessos de institucionalização disparados no cotidiano do GCR, caracteristicamente paralisantes e mobilizadores, como a importância da participação social, ainda tímida, as tensões com a imobilidade municipal, as fragilidades-potencialidades dos recursos humanos e financeiros, e também resultados que refletem em alargamento e participação de novos atores, cooperação intermunicipal, fortalecimento dos Grupos Condutores Municipais da rede cegonha e uma gestão estadual disposta a deflagrar processos de formação participativos. Trata-se de movimentos que se revelaram em implicações de múltiplas bifurcações e em processos de EPS que se fazem de forma mutante, conformando a rede-rizoma

Recent Trends in Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health in Brazil: Progress Toward Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5

We analyzed Brazil`s efforts in reducing child mortality, improving maternal and child health, and reducing socioeconomic and regional inequalities from 1990 through 2007. We compiled and reanalyzed data from several sources, including vital statistics and population-based surveys. We also explored the roles of broad socioeconomic and demographic changes and the introduction of health sector and other reform measures in explaining the improvements observed. Our findings provide compelling evidence that pro-active measures to reduce health disparities accompanied by socioeconomic progress can result in measurable improvements in the health of children and mothers in a relatively short interval. Our analysis of Brazil`s successes and remaining challenges to reach and surpass Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 can provide important lessons for other low- and middle-income countries. (Am J Public Health. 2010;100:1877-1889. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.196816)

Maternal health care professionals perspective on the provision and use of antenatal and delivery care : a qualitative descriptive study in rural Vietnam

Background. High quality maternal health care is an important tool to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality. Services offered should be evidence based and adapted to the local setting. This qualitative descriptive study explored the perspectives and experiences of midwives, assistant physicians and medical doctors on the content and quality of maternal health care in rural Vietnam. Method. The study was performed in a rural district in northern Vietnam. Four focus group discussions with health care professionals at primary health care level were conducted. The data was analysed using qualitative manifest and latent content analysis. Result. Two main themes emerged: "Contextual conditions for maternal health care" and "Balancing between possibilities and constraints". Contextual conditions influenced both pregnant women's use of maternal health care and health care professionals' performance. The study participants stated that women's uses of maternal health care were influenced by economical constraints and cultural norms that impeded their autonomy in relation to childbearing. Structural constraints within the health care system included inadequate financing of the primary health care, resulting in lack of human resources, professional re-training and adequate equipment. Conclusion. Contextual conditions strongly influenced the performance and interaction between pregnant women and health care professionals within antenatal care and delivery care in a rural district of Vietnam. Although Vietnam is performing comparatively well in terms of low maternal and child mortality figures, this study revealed midwives' and other health care professionals' perceived difficulties in their daily work. It seemed maternal health care was under-resourced in terms of staff, equipment and continuing education activities. The cultural setting in Vietnam constituting a strong patriarchal society and prevailing Confucian norms limits women's autonomy and reduce their possibility to make independent decisions about their own reproductive health. This issue should be further addressed by policy-makers. Strategies to reduce inequities in maternal health care for pregnant women are needed. The quality of client-provider interaction and management of pregnancy may be strengthened by education, human resources, re-training and provision of essential equipment.

Family violence: Walking the tight rope between maternal alienation and child safety

Mothers are often alienated from their children when child abuse is suspected or confirmed, whether she is the primary abuser of the child or not. An abusive or violent partner often initiates the process of maternal alienation from children as a control mechanism. When the co-occurrence of maternal and child abuse is not recognised, nurses and health professionals risk further alienating a mother from her children, which can have detrimental effects in both the short and long term. Evidence shows that when mothers are supported and have the necessary resources there is a reduction in the violence and abuse she and her children experience; this occurs even in situations where the mother is the primary abuser of her children. The family-centred care philosophy, which is widely accepted as the best approach to nursing care for children and their families, creates tension for nurses caring for children who are the victims of abuse as this care generally occurs away from the context of the family. This fragmented approach to caring for abused children can inadvertently undermine the mother-child relationship and further contribute to maternal alienation. This paper discusses the complexity of family violence for nurses negotiating the 'tight rope' between the prime concern for the safety of children and further contributing to maternal alienation, within a New Zealand context. The premise that restoration of the mother-child relationship is paramount for the long-term wellbeing of both the children and the mother provides the basis for discussing implications for nursing practice.