Eliminating disparities in birth outcomes: Spectrum Health : Grand Rapids, Mich
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- Maternal health case study (American Hospital Association)
- Contributor(s):
- American Hospital Association, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Washington, D.C.] : American Hospital Association, October 2020
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Healthcare Disparities Maternal Health Services Michigan United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Spectrum Health’s Maternal Infant Health Program offers personalized services to help eligible mothers and families in Kent County, Mich., have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Augmented by the federally funded Strong Beginnings program, which provides additional services to eligible African American and Hispanic women in Grand Rapids, Spectrum assists with locating health care services, finding transportation, and understanding the baby’s growth and development. Today’s comprehensive support services began in 2000 when hospital and community leaders joined forces to address a Black infant mortality rate that was up to five times higher than the white rate. The result was the creation of the Infant Health Action Team. In 2003, the community was further galvanized by new data demonstrating that at 22. Black infant deaths per 1,000 live births, Grand Rapids had the highest Black infant mortality rate in Michigan. In response, the Action Team successfully applied for a large, multi-year federal Healthy Start grant, managed by Spectrum Health, which funded new efforts to address health disparities in the African American — and later, Latinx — communities. Over time, these collaborative efforts expanded to include home visits by nurses and social workers, the addition of community health workers, behavioral health, a fatherhood initiative, community education and breastfeeding support groups, among other services. All programs have a strong emphasis on promoting racial equity and anti-racism work.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (2 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918418287906676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918418287906676