The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #61137

Lynn Kiyoko Chung, MA, MFT, Mental Health and Perinatal Substance Abuse Coordinator, Alameda County Public Health - MCAH, 1000 Broadway, Ste. 500, Oakland, CA 94607, (510) 208-5992, LChung@co.alameda.ca.us

Learning Objectives:

• Addressing Perinatal Substance Abuse: Alameda County’s Strategic Plan
• One of the most serious and far-reaching determinants of maternal and child health is perinatal substance use. In Alameda County, California, this cannot be taken lightly given that, in the statewide 1992 Perinatal Substance Exposure Study, Alameda County ranked second in prevalence rates with 16.92% of the births positive for substance exposure. With funding from the Improving Pregnancy Outcomes Program (IPOP), our local federal Healthy Start project, a Strategic Plan was crafted by a team of 11 influential individuals, with the help of Dr. Ira Chasnoff, an expert in the field of maternal substance use and its effects. The key to the Plan: integrate substance abuse and mental health interventions into the primary prenatal care setting. Our influential “Team” has now taken a step beyond to reach those pregnant women who never enter care (prenatal or substance abuse treatment) or who are “lost to care.” Innovative goals working outside and inside the “system of care” have yielded positive preliminary results and created tremendous collaborative bonds.
• At the end of the session, attendees will have learned the:
• • Key partners for an effective “Team”
• • Alameda County Perinatal Substance Abuse Strategic Plan
• • Implementation of the pilot site and beyond: data and progress to date
• • Expansion of Plan outside the primary care provider setting
• • Influential research and best practice models
• • Major achievements and major challenges of Plan implementation
• • Recommendations for replication of model & lessons learned

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.