Transcript B’MORE FOR HEALTHY BABIES:Baby Basics Program

Our vision is to ensure that all of Baltimore’s babies are
born healthy weight, full term, and ready to thrive in
healthy families.
This will be done by:
mobilizing communities, families, and individuals
around reducing the disparities of infant
mortality
 improving access to and quality of medical and
social services
 inspiring a collaborative spirit among policy
advocates, health and social service organizations,
and community members to actively reduce
Baltimore’s infant mortality

Provide evidence based written and oral education
and information that is health literate, culturally
competent, and compelling.
 Ensure written and oral health education and
information is used, understood and acted upon.
 Improve provider-patient communication and
engagement.
 Improve quality of care and experience – from the
front desk to the back office to provide patient
centered, compassionate care.

“The degree to which individuals can
obtain, process and understand the basic
health information and services they need
to make appropriate health decisions.”
-The Institute of Medicine
Low Health Literacy affects 90 million Americans (AMA)
Costs the US healthcare system $106-236 billion dollars
Low Health Literacy: Implications for National Health Policy; John A. Vernon, PhD, Professor, Department of
Finance, University of Connecticut.
PREGNANT MOMS ARE EAGER AND BETTER ABLE
TO LEARN PRENATAL BEHAVIOR CHANGE
Early Head Start study found better early child school readiness
outcomes when moms receive interventions before the baby is born.
MOMS ARE THE “FAMILY HEALTH MANAGER”
Health literacy skills enable moms to advocate for their own
and their families’ health and future well-being.
TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE
Moms who use written materials and effectively navigate the
health system break generational cycles of illiteracy and poor
health status.





TOOLS: Intentional distribution of BB books and
planners to all underserved moms.
STRATEGIES: BB Health Literacy strategies and tools
used by entire staff.
EDUCATION: Baby Basics tools provides prenatal and
health literacy education.
SUPPORT: Moms (and providers) receive support,
from home visitors & Moms Club groups to reinforce
education and provide referrals & social networks.
PARTNERSHIPS: Coordinated tools, strategies,
education and support provided by multi-sector
agencies.
Updated annually to reflect
evidence-based best practices in
prenatal care.
Reviewed and endorsed by
National March of Dimes.
500,000 copies purchased for
moms
Addresses every ACOG education
standard.
Written to a 3rd &5th grade reading
level
• Helps Ob-Gyn make a prescription for health
education and direct community support.
• Provides questions for each month (and
space for additional questions and answers)
• Gives moms tool to own her care.
 24 Curriculum Activities
 Bilingual handouts
 Meets all ACOG prenatal
standards
 Teaches health literacy skills
in prenatal context
Can be used for group or
individual education
Poster welcomes moms in 14 languages
Index Poster in the exam room helps
providers quickly find page #s in
book.
“Advancing health literacy will require multisector partnerships. The answer is not a good
document, mired in a bad system.
No single sector (or individual) has the range of
resources required to launch comprehensive health
literacy interventions”
Dr. Andrew Pleasant, Advancing Health Literacy
Planned Care Model*
Community
Resources and
Policies
Health System
Organization of Health Care
SelfManagement
Support
Informed,
Activated
Patient
Delivery
System
Design
Productive
Interactions
Decision
Support
Clinical
Information
Systems
Prepared,
Proactive
Practice Team
Functional and Clinical Outcomes
•Wagner EH. Chronic disease management: what will it take to improve care for chronic illness? Eff Clin Pract. 1998;1:2-4
1.Mom receives a Book & Planner
2.Everyone – from Receptionists
to Providers – are trained to use
Baby Basics tools and Health
Literacy strategies
Professional training
 On-line CME/CNE provider training (40 min.)
plus coaching
Practice wide:
 1-2 hour staff orientation
 Continued implementation support
Baltimore BB Learning Collaborative
Leaders discuss best practices
and innovation across the city
Individual or group education using BB Moms Club
Curriculum can be held in your waiting room in
partnership with community agencies, or as a
Volunteer Program.
1. All Home Visitors in Baltimore will use the book,
planner and curriculum to prepare moms for prenatal
care visits.
2. Medicaid Managed Care Plan’s Case Managers will use
book and planner to review visits, understand
prescriptions etc.
Baby Basics Moms Clubs run by trained community
partners will give moms a chance to learn and
support one another. Moms Clubs can be held in
your waiting room, in libraries, Community Centers,
Prisons, Schools, Health Departments, Restaurants,
churches.
Baby Basics & the Planned Care Model*
Community
Health System
Uses Baby Basics tools &strategies.
Runs Baby Basics Moms Clubs
Uses Baby Basics tools & strategies so:
Community
Interventions
support clinical
Community and
clinical
coordination
Informed,
Activated
Patient
Moms and
providers can
Clinical and
support decisions community
information
Health literate,
systems are
compassionate
coordinated
Delivery system
Moms Learn SelfManagement
Productive
Interactions
Prepared,
Proactive
Practice Team
Functional and Clinical Outcomes
•Wagner EH. Chronic disease management: what will it take to improve care for chronic illness? Eff Clin Pract. 1998;1:2-4
Baby Basics & Health Literacy in the Health Center
 Consistent, comprehensive, coordinated,
compassionate information and care
 Lifelong health literacy skills to launch
active, engaged participation in health for
entire family.
 Mechanism and long-term ability to own and
share health information
Baby Basics & Health Literacy in the Community
Baby Basics Books:
500,000 books in 50 states
Baby Basics City-Wide Programs:
New Jersey: Trenton, Newark, Jersey City (RWJ)
 New York State: Sunset Park Brooklyn, Rochester,
Nyack, Nassau County (NYS DOH)
 Cleveland, OH
 Los Angeles, California
 Palm Beach, Florida
 Baltimore, Maryland

 NYC



Clinical Pilots have demonstrated:
Increased adherence to prenatal care
Increased adherence to post-partum appointment
Increased patient satisfaction
Evaluation: Public Health Solutions
 Comprehensive
evaluation of multiple program
components in progress in NYC, Cleveland, LA
 Nassau
University Medical Center Institute for
Health Disparities Evaluation 2011
Knowledge





What is Health Literacy
How to recognize signs of low Health Literacy
Effective communication strategies for ALL patients
Tools and strategies to use with Low Literacy & ESL populations
Evidence- based prenatal health information
Attitudes




Everyone is a practitioner - all roles are vital to care
Changed perception of patients/clients
Readiness to change/motivations to change practice
Believe Medicaid moms deserve beautiful materials
Behaviors






Distribute & use Baby Basics with clients
Use Baby Basics to confirm and find prenatal health information
Use Baby Basics tools & teaching strategies
Organize and facilitate Baby Basics Moms Clubs
Use Baby Basics Moms Club Curriculum
Write questions and answers in planner
Knowledge





Prenatal health information
How to navigate written materials for health information
How to access community resources
How to navigate insurance coverage
How to ask a question
Attitudes





Prenatal visits are important to care
Self efficacy in asking questions
Consider it ok to ask a question
Empowered at doctor visits and navigating systems
Feeling deserving of beautiful materials
Behaviors






Ask questions
Show up to appointments
Make positive prenatal behavior changes
Use Baby Basics book & planner
Take planner to visits
Write in planner











Quality improvement and cost savings by consolidating
printed materials
Meeting prenatal health standards of care
Improved practitioner-client communication
Patient-centered coordination and integration of care
Improved clinical and educational practice
Improved coordination amongst colleagues and within
communities
Improved attitudes towards patients
Improved family health literacy skills
Reduced healthcare costs due to appropriate use of services
Breaking generational cycles of aliteracy & illiteracy
Improved health status for parents and children
Questions:
Natasha Ramberg
B’More Baby Basics
Lisa Bernstein
Executive Director
The What To Expect Foundation
212-712-9764
[email protected]
www.whattoexpect.org