Initiatives
Improved Hearing Screening and Intervention Services (IHSIS)
A series of collaborative improvement projects to increase the rate of documented follow-up and intervention services for infants with hearing loss.
Status: Complete
The multiple collaborative projects ran from 2010 to 2013.
- Who: Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) offices representing 28 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, in collaboration with parent partners, audiologists and other healthcare professionals and advocates.
- Funder: This project was funded by the Health Resources and Service Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau.
- Our Role: Facilitated Breakthrough Series learning collaboratives to apply quality improvement methodology to improve the systems of care for children with hearing loss.
What IHSIS Project Participants Say
Working with NICHQ has been a very rewarding experience … A partnership with families has been a hallmark of what the Maternal and Child Health Bureau has done for years, but NICHQ really demonstrated how important those partnerships are.
Being involved with NICHQ has been a career-changing and life-altering experience in many ways. Quality improvement methodology is not additive to my work, it influences how I do my daily work.
At the beginning we thought that it'd be another project or another thing to do in our list of things we're supposed to do. But actually what I've learned is this is a better way to do things—a faster, better and effective way. You have to have a goal and objectives. When you work through the process we've been learning at NICHQ, everything is very efficient.
Prior to the working with NICHQ, we had had some broad areas of focus for our plan for the year, but really had no strategy or mechanism for testing whether a change that we implemented was an improvement. And we’d always implement statewide before knowing if the change was beneficial. I’ve seen other participants in NICHQ projects make a similar shift and now think about how things are possible instead of impossible.
Related Content
Before Birth & Beyond
Before Birth & Beyond: Improving Care in MCH is a new equity-focused NICHQ podcast dedicated to discussing pressing issues in maternal and child health through the lens of shared learning, action, and impact.
Before Birth & Beyond: Improving Care in MCH
E6: Sickle Cell Awareness Month: Transitioning to College, Equity Considerations, and Resource Sharing
September 27, 2023 SEASON 1 EPISODE 6
S1, E6 Show Notes
EPISODE 6 SUMMARY: In this episode of Before Birth & Beyond, in honor of Sickle Cell Awareness Month, our main story this episode focuses on Sickle Cell Disease. Project staff at NICHQ explore how new treatment options are incorporated into project work, how equity is considered, and what resources and supports are helpful as young people transition from pediatric to adult care.
Main Story: Sickle Cell Awareness Month: Transitioning to College, Equity Considerations, and Resource Sharing
SEGMENT SUMMARY: For our main story in this episode we are joined by NICHQ Director of Project Operations Kim Sprunck, MSW, MPH and Madeline D'Onfro, MPH, Project Manager and contributor for a college guide to transition. Both of our guests work on sickle cell-related projects at NICHQ, and will share more about NICHQ's work and resources providers and families can lean on to support those living with SCD. We'll also hear from TaLana Hughes, a parent of an SCD warrior, about transitioning to adult care. Stay tuned!
RELATED LINKS:
- Interview Transcript
- Project Page: Hemoglobinopathies National Coordinating Center (HNCC)
- NICHQ Blog: 4 Strategies for Transitioning from Pediatric to Adult Care for People Living with Sickle Cell Disease
- NICHQ Resource: Model Protocol
- NICQ Resource: Compendium of Tools & Resources
Why I Work in MCH
This month, Madeline D'Onfro, MPH, a project manager on the Hemoglobinopathies National Coordinating Center (HNCC) shares her passion for creating systems that protect vulnerable members of society. And improving experiences for those with the highest needs.
Learn more about the rest of NICHQ’s team at https://www.nichq.org/about/team.
"Their stories are so powerful": Community-based approaches to infant safe sleep and breastfeeding promotion |
August 23, 2023 from 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (EDT)
While sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and breastfeeding are public health issues across population groups, significant disparities exist across race, ethnicity, and geography. To center the lived experiences of communities, many MCH programs are shifting to community-driven work to promote safe sleep and breastfeeding, including the National Action Partnership to Promote Safe Sleep Improvement and Innovation Network (NAPPSS-IIN).
This webinar discussed how the NAPPSS-IIN programmatic and evaluation pursuits shifted to center community voices within participatory quality improvement (QI). Community partners share their experiences leading and implementing QI activities. Implications for MCH projects and community-based research were discussed.
Moderator: Meera Menon, Ph.D, Associate Director of Research and Evaluation, NICHQ
Speakers:
- Angeline Bell, BS, RN, CCE, CBS, Certified Childbirth Educator and Lactation Specialist, Program Manager, Babies Born Healthy, Montgomery County, MD
- Crystal Trent Paultre, MSN, RN, CBS, Community Health Nurse, Babies Born Healthy, Montgomery County, MD
- Lynnette Byfield, Community Health Worker, Babies Born Healthy, Montgomery County, MD
- Stacy Scott, Ph.D., MPA, VP of Health Equity and Innovation, NICHQ
- Rebecca Huber, MPP, Senior Analyst, NICHQ
