Celebrate NICHQ’s 25th Anniversary! Click here to learn more about our work in MCH improvement
Kirsten Klatka, MSW, an associate project director for NICHQ’s Family Engagement and Leadership in Systems of Care (FELSC) and Hemoglobinopathies National Coordinating Center (HNCC), shares her professional goals and career journey thus far.
Within that tenet, many public health professionals, including me, have championed the importance of bringing “uncommon partners” to the table: the people and organizations that may not first come to mind, but whose perspectives broaden and deepen our discussion. NICHQ and our partner organizations have worked hard to expand these voices and perspectives to ensure…
Teams at the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality are preparing for an exciting fall 2024 conference season, where staff will give oral presentations and facilitate workshops and symposiums at a variety of national maternal and child health conferences.
When performing research and evaluating programs on the topic of maternal and child health–a field embedded among social determinants of health– it is important to root the research in the context of the community. Traditionally, many public health initiatives employ a top-down approach to address public health issues rather than harnessing the lived experience of community members. Researchers must practice cultural humility and defer to…
Well-child visits and recommended vaccinations are essential, ensuring children stay healthy and are protected from preventable diseases and illnesses such as measles, whooping cough, and seasonal flu. But, as the COVID-19 pandemic persists, data shows that fewer childhood vaccinations have been given and many children have fallen behind on their scheduled appointments. At the onset of the pandemic, public health measures were put in place to reduce the…
Designing and implementing an effective public health program requires completing multiple activities, including identifying stakeholders and participants, completing a comprehensive needs assessment, or utilizing a clear theory of change with measurable and specific aims to address progress. No matter how much time and effort you may spend on these activities, factors beyond your control may…
If you’ve completed PDSA cycles but are having difficulty identifying changes that lead to improvement, it’s time to take a step back and review your PDSA process
A stand-alone PDSA cycle can rarely, if ever, result in an adoptable change idea. Instead, we rely on sequential tests that build on changes that show promise, widen the scale of testing and are performed under multiple settings and conditions.
In all types of quality improvement efforts, sustainability is a vital consideration that often goes overlooked until the project’s final stages. With the right balance of foresight and strategy, however, team leaders can plan for sustainability as a project gets underway. This lets teams seamlessly support sustainability and a create quality improvement projects with truly…
After nearly 20 years of guiding teams in constructing PDSA cycles we’ve identified three common pitfalls. The good news is you can easily avoid them.