In Medicaid-funded programs across the country, families are learning how to achieve a healthy weight through better nutrition and increased fitness. To maximize the benefits of these programs—and protect children from long-term health problems like increased risk for heart disease—NICHQ recently gathered insights from participating families on the best approaches to tackling obesity, which was…
This is one of a series of posts based on the “Engaging Senior Leadership in Your Quality Improvement (QI) Work” webinar. Learning leaders’ styles is a great first step towards engaging them in quality improvement (QI) efforts. The next two steps — establishing a vision and aligning aims with the organization — are important both…
Although great strides have been made in recent years, infant mortality remains a problem in the United States. The infant mortality rate has declined – dropping 13 percent between 2005 and 2013 – while still leaving the U.S. far behind many industrialized nations. One of the difficulties in addressing this crisis has been the multitude…
As public health professionals, we are tasked with designing, implementing and evaluating programs and policies that are intended to improve population health. A critical part of this work is partnering with the families in communities we want to reach. This is the best way to try to understand what matters most to them and how…
Hearing loss is a common birth defect in the United States, affecting one to three babies per 1,000 live births. In Louisiana, most children receive hearing screenings at birth, but the number receiving appropriate follow-up care when diagnosed with potential hearing loss was only 38 percent a few years ago. The state’s Early Hearing Detection…
This series focuses on how states are reaching underserved populations as part of the Collaborative Improvement and Innovation Network to Reduce Infant Mortality. While the country’s rate of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has dropped by more than 50 percent over the past two decades, SIDS continues to claim the lives of about 1,500 U.S. infants each…
As a current graduate student studying Public Health at Boston University, I try to use every semester to learn more about immense issues like birth outcome disparities or disparate impacts of social determinants of health on different populations. My coursework and regular engagement in the Racial Justice Talking Circles held on campus have ignited a…
For families with children who have special healthcare needs (CYSHCN), finding an optimal care system can sometimes be a challenge. While quality improvement (QI) is used a great deal in healthcare, a handful of parents participating in a NICHQ-led QI training are finding it can also help parents achieve their individual goals for improving as…
When it comes to making improvements, many people like to go from thinking to implementation in short order. After all, who doesn’t like reaching their destination quickly, especially when the goal is to change healthcare systems to create better health outcomes for children? But going from having an idea to implementing it skips an important…
Data sharing is one of the most significant barriers between city and state health departments when it comes to reducing infant mortality. States and cities accumulate a great deal of data at various levels on birth outcomes and maternal care, but they don’t always make it readily available to each other. “In some instances, states…