277535
From theory to measurement: Proposed state maternal and child health life course measures
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
: 8:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.
Tegan Callahan, MPH,
CDC Public Health Prevention Service, CDC Public Health Prevention Service Fellow/Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs, Washington, DC
William M. Sappenfield, MD MPH,
Department of Community & Family Health, The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies, University of South Florida, College of Public Health, Tampa, FL
Life course is a theoretical model that takes into consideration the full spectrum of factors that positively and negatively affect an individual's health throughout all stages of life. Currently, there are no standardized life course metrics to determine the success of public health programming guided by a life course model. In May 2012, the Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs initiated a project to develop recommended indicators for use at a state and community level to assess, monitor, and evaluate life course health. Teams of program leaders, epidemiologists, and academicians from seven states proposed life course indicators for consideration. Each indicator was assessed for five life course principles: equity, systems realignment, impact, intergenerational wellness, and life course evidence. Indicators were also evaluated for three data criteria: quality, availability, and simplicity. More than 400 indicators were initially proposed; 108 were selected for full assessment and review, and a final subset will be selected as life course indicators by June 2013. Indicators span many influences of life course health, including adverse childhood experiences, reproductive life experiences, health-care access and quality, mental health, discrimination and segregation, community health policy, economic experiences, social cohesion, and public health systems capacity. Life course indicators represent a critical step toward the translation of the life course perspective from theory to implementation. State and community maternal and child health programs are actively implementing programs and policy changes guided by the life course framework, and initial measures are needed to guide and determine the success of these approaches.
Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Epidemiology
Program planning
Learning Objectives:
Explain the process of developing life course indicators for state public health programming.
Share the final set of state life course indicators.
Discuss common best practices for using life course indicators in public health practice.
Keyword(s): Maternal and Child Health, Epidemiology
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked on the Life Course Metrics Project since it's inception, including working with the National Expert Panel to develop a framework for life course indicators and planning the state team collaborative for the development of indicators. Since June 2012, I have worked with the project's state teams on the generation life course indicators. I will continue to work on this project through the finalization of the indicator set.
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.
