This study is an investigation of whether pregnant women of different ethnic groups differ in their assessment of the quality of advice they receive in nutrition, psychosocial and health education in prenatal care, and whether their assessments help predict their adherence to healthy behaviors. We conducted a telephone survey (in Spanish and English) of 900 women 24 to 32 weeks pregnant (300 African-American, 300 Latina and 300 white women) in public Medicaid managed care plans in four metropolitan counties in California. The questions addressed advice received in 11 areas: vitamins and minerals, proper foods, weight gain, physical activity, second-hand smoke, and getting help for problems with anxieties/depression, money, enough food to eat, housing, parenting or legal issues. Responses were analyzed in multivariate logistic regression models with dependent variables for adherence to advice in the 11 areas. Examining which areas of advice are of least importance and relevance to women in different groups, whether these differences are associated with their adherence to healthy behaviors, will help to develop more culturally competent ways of presenting advice to women to improve adherence to healthy behaviors for which there is documented evidence of health benefit for women and infants. The actual health plans participating in this study will introduce interventions to improve the cultural competence of the prenatal advice they give women after reviewing the results of the survey.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this presentation participants will be able to: 1) Describe whether African American women and Latinas enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans differ from white women in their assessment of the quality of Nutrition, Psychosocial and Health Promotion advice they receive in prenatal care, 2) Describe whether these differences in their assessments of the quality of care help explain ethnic differences in satisfaction with their prenatal care. 3) Describe whether these differences in their assessments of the quality of care help explain differences in their adherence to federally recommended Nutrition, Psychosocial and Health Promotion behaviors.
Keywords: Quality of Care, Medicaid Managed Care
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.