Assessing the Development of Collective Impact Initiatives Addressing Maternal and Child Health.

PURPOSE: To examine the extent to which communities participating in the Collective Impact Learning Collaborative (CILC) increased capacity to create conditions for collective impact (CI) to address racial disparities in maternal and child health (MCH) and align local efforts with state MCH priorities over a 12-month period. DESCRIPTION: Eight communities participated in a learning collaborative that involved the provision of technical assistance via webinars, monthly team calls, and site visits to facilitate the development of a collective impact initiative. A Ready-Set-Go approach to technical assistance was used to guide the communities through each phase of development while also providing individual assistance to teams based on their capacity at the start of participation. ASSESSMENT: A pre/post design measured change in capacity to engage in CI efforts over time. A survey designed to assess the completion of core tasks related to early indicators of CI was completed at baseline and 12 months later. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test and Mann-Whitney test determined statistically significant progress towards outcomes over 12 months and differences in progress between high- and low- capacity teams. CONCLUSION: In 12 months, teams with little established groundwork made significant progress, in some ways exceeding progress of more established teams. Statistically significant progress was achieved in eleven of fourteen outcomes measured. Five teams aligned local efforts with state priorities after 12 months. Findings suggest technical assistance to establish conditions for collective impact can support progress even when pre-conditions for collective impact are not previously established.

Compliance of a Baby-Friendly Designated Hospital in Ghana With the WHO/UNICEF Baby and Mother-Friendly Care Practices.

BACKGROUND: Although the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative has improved breastfeeding rates globally, weak monitoring still affects hospital-level implementation. RESEARCH AIM: To reassess compliance of a Baby-Friendly Hospital with the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding, International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes, HIV and Infant Feeding, and Mother-Friendly Care following the WHO/UNICEF global criteria. METHODS: In this cross-sectional, prospective, mixed-methods study (N = 180), clinical staff (n = 60), pregnant women (n = 40), postpartum mothers (n = 60), and mothers of babies in intensive care (n = 20) were randomly selected from one urban secondary-level public hospital in Ghana designated as Baby-Friendly in 2004 but never reassessed. Data were collected through interviews, document reviews, and observations using the revised WHO/UNICEF external reassessment tool and analyzed quantitatively using the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative computer tool. Scores higher than 80% signified a pass (high compliance). Scores rated as low (< 50%) and moderate (50-80%) signified noncompliance. RESULTS: The facility passed the criteria for full compliance with the International Code (86%) but failed other components. Compliance with the Ten Steps was moderate (55%). Step 7 about rooming-in (84%) and Step 9 about human milk substitutes (100%) were passed, whereas Step 1 about written breastfeeding policies (0%), Step 2 about staff training (7%), and Step 4 about early breastfeeding initiation (31%) were met the least. Compliance with Mother-Friendly Care (34%) and HIV and Infant Feeding (47%) were low. Main implementation gaps were unavailability of policies and staff's inadequate knowledge about Baby-Friendly practices. CONCLUSIONS: Improving staff training and maternal counseling, routinely reassessing designated facilities, and providing technical support in problematic areas might sustain implementation.

The maternity ward of a teaching hospital: reconfiguration of maternal-child nursing care.

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the strategies used by nurses and nurse professors for a better position in the maternity ward of the teaching hospital of the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo. METHOD: this is a social-historical study with a qualitative approach. The primary sources were written documents, such as official letters, memos, ordinances, standards and routines of the hospital; photographic material; and oral testimonies from seven participants. The interviews were performed using a semi-structured questionnaire, with questions regarding the adaptation from a sanatorium to a teaching hospital, the challenges faced, and the strategies adopted by the nursing department. RESULTS: the results allowed us to understand the close link between the maternity ward and the nursing course of the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, which created a differentiated nursing care that integrated training and care with a broader and humanized look. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: the actions of the nurses were recognized and gave them professional visibility, influencing a new form of care in the maternity ward.

The maternity ward of a teaching hospital: reconfiguration of maternal-child nursing care / Maternidad de un hospital-escuela: reconfiguración de la asistencia de enfermería materno-infantil / Maternidade de um hospital-escola: reconfiguração da assistência de enfermagem materno infantil

ABSTRACT Objective: to analyze the strategies used by nurses and nurse professors for a better position in the maternity ward of the teaching hospital of the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo. Method: this is a social-historical study with a qualitative approach. The primary sources were written documents, such as official letters, memos, ordinances, standards and routines of the hospital; photographic material; and oral testimonies from seven participants. The interviews were performed using a semi-structured questionnaire, with questions regarding the adaptation from a sanatorium to a teaching hospital, the challenges faced, and the strategies adopted by the nursing department. Results: the results allowed us to understand the close link between the maternity ward and the nursing course of the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, which created a differentiated nursing care that integrated training and care with a broader and humanized look. Final considerations: the actions of the nurses were recognized and gave them professional visibility, influencing a new form of care in the maternity ward.

RESUMEN Objetivo: analizar las estrategias usadas por las enfermeras asistenciales y enfermeras docentes por una mejor posición en la maternidad del hospital-escuela de la Universidad Federal de Espírito Santo. Método: estudio de naturaleza histórico-social con abordaje cualitativo. Las fuentes primarias se constituyeron de documentos escritos, como los oficios, los memorandos, los decretos, las normas y las rutinas hospitalarias; el material fotográfico; y las declaraciones orales de siete participantes. La encuesta fue orientada por la ruta semiestructurada con cuestiones sobre la adaptación del sanatorio para hospital-escuela, los retos enfrentados y las estrategias adoptadas por la enfermería. Resultados: permitieron entender la estrecha vinculación de la maternidad con el curso de enfermería de la Universidad Federal de Espírito Santo, el que determinaba una asistencia de enfermería diferenciada, la cual integraba enseñanza y asistencia con una mirada más amplia y humanizada. Consideraciones finales: las acciones de las enfermeras fueron reconocidas y generaron visibilidad profesional, influenciando una nueva manera de cuidar en la maternidad.

RESUMO Objetivo: analisar as estratégias usadas pelas enfermeiras assistenciais e enfermeiras docentes por uma melhor posição na maternidade do hospital-escola da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo. Método: estudo de natureza histórico-social com abordagem qualitativa. As fontes primárias constituíram-se de documentos escritos, como ofícios, memorandos, portarias, normas e rotinas hospitalares; material fotográfico; e depoimentos orais de sete participantes. A entrevista foi orientada por roteiro semiestruturado com questões sobre a adaptação do sanatório para hospital-escola, os desafios enfrentados e as estratégias adotadas pela enfermagem. Resultados: permitiram entender a estreita vinculação da maternidade com o curso de enfermagem da Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, o que determinava uma assistência de enfermagem diferenciada, a qual integrava ensino e assistência com um olhar mais amplo e humanizado. Considerações finais: as ações das enfermeiras foram reconhecidas e geraram visibilidade profissional, influenciando uma nova forma de cuidar na maternidade.

Process Improvement to Enhance Quality in a Large Volume Labor and Birth Unit.

BACKGROUND: The goal of the perinatal team at Mercy Hospital St. Louis is to provide a quality patient experience during labor and birth. After the move to a new labor and birth unit in 2013, the team recognized many of the routines and practices needed to be modified based on different demands. METHODS: The Lean process was used to plan and implement required changes. This technique was chosen because it is based on feedback from clinicians, teamwork, strategizing, and immediate evaluation and implementation of common sense solutions. Through rapid improvement events, presence of leaders in the work environment, and daily huddles, team member engagement and communication were enhanced. The process allowed for team members to offer ideas, test these ideas, and evaluate results, all within a rapid time frame. For 9 months, frontline clinicians met monthly for a weeklong rapid improvement event to create better experiences for childbearing women and those who provide their care, using Lean concepts. At the end of each week, an implementation plan and metrics were developed to help ensure sustainment. The issues that were the focus of these process improvements included on-time initiation of scheduled cases such as induction of labor and cesarean birth, timely and efficient assessment and triage disposition, postanesthesia care and immediate newborn care completed within approximately 2 hours, transfer from the labor unit to the mother baby unit, and emergency transfers to the main operating room and intensive care unit. RESULTS: On-time case initiation for labor induction and cesarean birth improved, length of stay in obstetric triage decreased, postanesthesia recovery care was reorganized to be completed within the expected 2-hour standard time frame, and emergency transfers to the main hospital operating room and intensive care units were standardized and enhanced for efficiency and safety. Participants were pleased with the process improvements and quality outcomes. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Working together as a team using the Lean process, frontline clinicians identified areas that needed improvement, developed and implemented successful strategies that addressed each gap, and enhanced the quality and safety of care for a large volume perinatal service.

Towards ending preventable maternal deaths by 2035.

Maternal mortality has been reduced by half from 1990 to 2010, yet a woman in sub-Saharan Africa has a lifetime risk of maternal death of 1 in 39 compared with around 1 in 10,000 in industrialized countries. Annual rates of reduction of maternal mortality of over 10% have been achieved in several countries. Highly cost-effective interventions exist and are being scaled up, such as family planning, emergency obstetric and newborn care, quality service delivery, midwifery, maternal death surveillance and response, and girls' education; however, coverage still remains low. Maternal mortality reduction is now high on the global agenda. We examined scenarios of reduction of maternal mortality by 2035. Ending preventable maternal deaths could be achieved in nearly all countries by 2035 with challenging yet realistic efforts: (1) massive scaling-up and skilling up of human resources for family planning and maternal health; (2) reaching every village in every district and every urban slum toward universal health coverage; (3) enhanced financing; (4) knowledge for action: enhanced monitoring, accountability, evaluation, and R&D.

Lifecourse health development: past, present and future.

During the latter half of the twentieth century, an explosion of research elucidated a growing number of causes of disease and contributors to health. Biopsychosocial models that accounted for the wide range of factors influencing health began to replace outmoded and overly simplified biomedical models of disease causation. More recently, models of lifecourse health development (LCHD) have synthesized research from biological, behavioral and social science disciplines, defined health development as a dynamic process that begins before conception and continues throughout the lifespan, and paved the way for the creation of novel strategies aimed at optimization of individual and population health trajectories. As rapid advances in epigenetics and biological systems research continue to inform and refine LCHD models, our healthcare delivery system has struggled to keep pace, and the gulf between knowledge and practice has widened. This paper attempts to chart the evolution of the LCHD framework, and illustrate its potential to transform how the MCH system addresses social, psychological, biological, and genetic influences on health, eliminates health disparities, reduces chronic illness, and contains healthcare costs. The LCHD approach can serve to highlight the foundational importance of MCH, moving it from the margins of national debate to the forefront of healthcare reform efforts. The paper concludes with suggestions for innovations that could accelerate the translation of health development principles into MCH practice.

A new context for service: healthcare for the 21st century.

Contemporary realities call for a shifting mental model with regard to the delivery of health services to women and children, indeed, to all users. The advent of technology is creating a new landscape for both provider and user, requiring a deeper understanding of the relationship between human experience and technology applications. In a postdigital world (a world in which people's lives are not controlled by technology, but rather enhanced by it), understanding the specifics of this emerging new clinical paradigm challenges historic notions of clinical practice and care, and calls both providers and users to a new language and a deeper understanding of the clinical experience.

[Neoliberalism in health: the torture of the health care workers of the Bogota's Instituto Materno Infantil (child and maternity hospital)]. / Neoliberalismo en salud: la tortura de trabajadoras y trabajadores del Instituto Materno Infantil de Bogotá.

OBJECTIVES: To link, from a historical point of view, the most significant transformations of the Instituto Materno Infantil (IMI) [the oldest child and maternity hospital of the country] during its process of crisis, closure and liquidation with the experiences of the hospital workers. To find experience-based and theoretical elements that can interconnect the process of health care privatization of the country with the workers' experiences of resistance and pain/suffering. METHODS: Critically-oriented ethnography based on continuous collective field work, historical research (primary and secondary sources) and semi-structured interviews with 5 women who worked at the IMI for more than 15 years. RESULTS: A time line of 4 main periods: Los años de gloria [The golden years] (up to 1990); Llega el neoliberalismo [Neoliberalism arrives] (1990-2000); La crisis y las resistencias [Crisis and resistances] (2001-2005); and Liquidación [Liquidation (2006-20??)]. The narratives of the interviewed women unveil multiple aggressions that have intensified since 2006, have caused pain and suffering and are examples of violations of human and labour rights. DISCUSSION: We suggest to analyze the links between the different kinds of violence and pain and suffering as torture. This category is defined as the set of violent actions that cause physical and emotional pain, which are performed by actors in positions of power over other people who challenge that power and are part of modern States' ideological principles around a defined moral social order. For the IMI workers' case, the ideological principle that is being challenged is health care neoliberalism. From the analyses of bureaucracy, confinement, torturing agents, and the breaking-off of the body-mind unit we conclude that this relationship between neoliberalism and torture aims to eliminate the last health care workers of the country who had job stability and full-benefits through public labour contracts. Their elimination furthers the accumulation of capital generated by increasing over-exploitation of labour and commodification of health care.