4109.0: Tuesday, November 14, 2000 - 12:45 PM

Abstract #8915

Promoting Health Systems Development for Children and Families

Susan G. Epstein, MSW, New England SERVE, 101 Tremont Street, Suite 812, Boston, MA 02108, 617/574-9394, sepstein@ultranet.com and Dawn Wardyga, RI Parent Information Network, Family Voices of Rhode Island, 175 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI 02860, 401/727-4144 x 58, DWardyga@sprynet.com.

Overview: Despite profound political and cultural differences throughout New England, these six states are characterized by a close geography, shared history, and economic realities that have forged meaningful connections across state lines. These connections can be seen in regional collaborations addressing a range of public policy and health-related issues. Over the past 15 years, public health leaders, voluntary organizations, health care providers and consumers have been extending this tradition of regional collaboration to improve the quality of health systems for children with special health care needs and their families. With the support of the federal Maternal & Child Health Bureau, New England SERVE has built a regional network designed to strengthen health policy and planning for children with disabilities or chronic conditions. This regional network has included maternal and child health leaders from the six state departments of public health, health care providers, consumers, family advocates, and representatives from state Medicaid programs and managed care organizations. Presenters in this session will describe strategies used to support regional collaboration with special emphasis on building effective parent-professional partnerships to improve health policy making. Panelists will highlight the outcomes of regional collaborations to date. These include: a set of standards for quality care for children with special health care needs,a regional needs assessment, a specialized model for monitoring & improving the quality of managed care, and a quarterly forum for sharing approaches to building state capacity for data collection and quality assurance.

Learning Objectives: 1. Learn about a regional health policy network established in 1983 that promotes quality health systems development for children with special health care needs across the six New England states. 2. Identify how multi-state regional collaboration can focus attention and improve health policy making for vulnerable, low-incidence populations. 3. Describe strategies for building effective partnerships between consumers, health care providers and state health departments. 4. Identify examples of regional projects or products developed to address gaps in information, standards, or resources for quality assurance for children with special health care needs. 5. Recognize challenges to building effective regional partnerships and collaboration

Keywords: Children With Special Needs, Collaboration

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

The 128th Annual Meeting of APHA