Using mHealth to reduce disparities in Black maternal health: Perspectives from Black rural postpartum mothers.

BACKGROUND: Racial disparities are evident in maternal morbidity and mortality rates globally. Black women are more likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth than any other race or ethnicity. This leaves one of the largest gaps in women's health to date. OBJECTIVES: mHealth interventions that connect with women soon after discharge may assist in individualizing and formalizing support for mothers in the early postpartum period. To aid in developing an mHealth application, Black postpartum mothers' perspectives were examined. DESIGN: Utilizing the Sojourner Syndrome Framework and Maternal Mortality & Morbidity Measurement Framework, group interview discussion guides were developed to examine the facilitators and barriers of postpartum transitional care for rural Black women living in the United States to inform the development of a mobile health application. METHODS: In this study, seven group interviews were held with Black mothers, their support persons, and healthcare providers in rural Georgia to aid in the development of the Prevent Maternal Mortality Using Mobile Technology (PM3) mobile health (mHealth) application. Group interviews included questions about (1) post-birth experiences; (2) specific needs (e.g. clinical, social support, social services, etc.) in the postpartum period; (3) perspectives on current hospital discharge processes and information; (4) lived experiences with racism, classism, and/or gender discrimination; and (5) desired features and characteristics for the mobile app development. RESULTS: Fourteen out of the 78 screened participants were eligible and completed the group interview. Major discussion themes included: accessibility to healthcare and resources due to rurality, issues surrounding race and perceived racism, mental and emotional well-being in the postpartum period, and perspectives on the PM3 mobile application. CONCLUSION: Participants emphasized the challenges that postpartum Black women face in relation to accessibility, racism and discrimination, and mental health. The women favored a culturally relevant mHealth tool and highlighted the need to tailor the application to address disparities.

Practical applications of implementing integrated mental health practices with primary care providers.

Community Health Advanced by Medical Practice Superstars is a 1-year, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded fellowship for early career physicians and physician assistants/associates to become primary care transformational leaders. Fellows implement practice-based health care transformation projects in one of the three HRSA priority areas: childhood obesity, mental health, and opioid use disorder. The purpose of these projects is to expand on integrated health in primary care settings where there is a shortage of mental health professionals. The fellows identified areas in which they were able to incorporate mental health care provision to improve diagnostic capacity and whole health delivery, facilitate appropriate behavioral health outcomes, and improve patient physical health outcomes. Project modalities included initiating or increasing behavioral health screenings, aligning screenings with patient outcomes, and coordinating behavioral health care with physical health care. This article describes six mental health-related health care practice transformation projects implemented across rural health care settings, including Federally Qualified Health Centers and academic medical centers. The topics included (a) depression in pregnant and postpartum mothers; (b) adverse childhood experiences screening; (c) depression and chronic disease outcomes, especially diabetes; (d) the use of automated enhancements in patients' electronic medical records for management of clinical depression; (e) improving health outcomes and medication adherence of patients with opioid use disorder; and (f) the (in)adequacy of the Patient Health Questionairre-2 (PHQ-2) for the assessment of depression among patients with diabetes. Clinical specialties included family medicine, pediatrics, and women's health. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).