Hispanic women face a unique set of challenges when it comes to breastfeeding, including overcoming longstanding cultural beliefs, such as views on healthy baby weight, and dealing with language barriers. When compared to all other ethnic groups, Hispanic mothers are most likely to supplement breastmilk with formula within the first two days of life. One hospital…
Since 1970, children’s obesity has more than tripled in the U.S. One in five school-aged children are now considered obese, which means that 20 percent of American children are at greater risk of chronic health conditions and social isolation, as well as developing heart disease, diabetes and multiple cancers later in life. Childhood obesity does…
You’ve already identified and recruited your core partners, aligned your goals and assessed your team’s strengths and skills. You’ve committed to a collaborative approach to improving population outcomes, which means you are on track to drive lasting change. But collaboration can get complicated quickly; partners are often in separate locations and balancing individual priorities, which…
Vision issues are the most preventable disabling condition that children experience, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). But since young children aren’t able to articulate vision impairments, diagnosis and treatment relies entirely on regular screenings. Early screening can detect serious health concerns and prompt proactive intervention. If left undiagnosed, vision impairments can result…
Updating or introducing new policies can be an important driver of change. However, we often experience a long and arduous process as we vet the evidence, consider the impact of change, write the policy and move it through our systems to final approval. Before we’re done, we need to confirm buy-in from many stakeholders, all at…
Here at NICHQ, we’re in the improvement business. That means we help a lot of people handle the uncertainty and challenges that come with managing change. Whether imposed or chosen, however, frequent change efforts can sometimes lead to change fatigue. Leadership expert Gwen Webber-McLeod, president and CEO of Gwen Inc., describes change fatigue as a…
Precious, a child born with sickle cell disease, spent days crying because she was suffering and no one knew why. Later, when Precious was diagnosed, her family would learn her tissues were deprived of oxygen, causing frequent pain episodes that required medication for relief. Fatima Oyeku was left in hospital emergency rooms, waiting in excruciating…
In our line of work, positive outcomes depend on the careful synergy of multiple systems. Because children’s health is influenced by a great many factors, simultaneously engaging systems at the community, city, state and government level is essential for significant change. All too often we discover that two state agencies can be closely aligned on…
NICHQ has spent the past two decades advancing children’s health. We are leaders not because we follow the same routines, but because we seek innovation. At NICHQ, we do things differently. NICHQ President and CEO Scott Berns, MD, MPH, FAAP, joined fellow healthcare innovators at HUBweek, Boston’s festival for the future. As a keynote speaker…
Using data to understand system-level change is critical for quality improvement (QI) projects. Data, viewed in a sequence, like time or a series of events, helps us understand if changes we make to a system or process bring about improvement. Yet, it’s easy to under or over react to one data point change on…