260592 An Innovative Model to Engaging Birth Hospitals in Los Angeles

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Janice Pettis, MS , Pediatrics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Susan Jackman, RN, MS , Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Dena Herman, PhD, MPH, RD , Department of Community Health Sciences, UCLA School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA
Calvin Hobel, MD , Obstetrics and Gynecology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Tabia Richardson, MPH , Pediatrics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Neal Halfon, MD, MPH , Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Will Nicholas, PhD, MPH , School of Public Health, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Background: The National Children's Study (NCS) is the largest study ever to be conducted of children's health and development and proposes to follow 100,000 children nationwide from before birth to adulthood to examine the association of health and the environment. As part of a plan of outreach and engagement all 58 birth hospitals in Los Angeles County will be engaged so collection of data/specimens can occur at the time of birth. Approvals from the hospitals must be obtained before these collections can occur. Using the Plan Do Study Act (PDSA) model of rapid cycle process improvement, we constantly modified our hospital engagement strategies.

Methods: We classified the hospitals by affiliation, birth rates, profit vs nonprofit and type (academic vs community vs system). Initial engagement followed a 3-step strategic plan that included: 1) key hospital personnel meeting 2) obtaining necessary approvals); and 3) development of individual plans for retention of hospital.

Results: After approaching one-half of the hospitals we identified some barriers to engagement that were limiting our efficiency. Using the PDSA model we modified our initial strategy from one blanket strategy to multiple hospital specific strategies.

Conclusion: We found that classifying the birth hospitals and incorporating hospital specific strategies facilitated the process of obtaining the necessary approvals. Lessons learned could be incorporated and used for any community engagement process. Overall strategies can be developed and improved upon using PDSAs but the strategies must be tailored to each individual community in order to successfully engage.

Learning Areas:
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Describe how PDSAs are important to the process of hospital outreach and engagement. List at least three strategies to ensure successful hospital engagement.

Keywords: Women, Community Outreach

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a Co-Director of the National Children's Study and have interacted with the Hospital Outreach and Engagement team and coordinated with their efforts as part of our community outreach efforts.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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