Health equity and parent voice in home visiting continuous quality improvement

Full Description: The objective of this project was to incorporate health equity and parent voice into home visiting continuous quality improvement (CQI) projects. In New York State, 19 Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Programs, are conducting program specific projects in which a Plan, Do, Study, Act framework guides the work. Local implementing agencies (LIAs) have adopted the specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound, inclusion, and equity (SMARTIE) aim format. To address equity, LIAS considered what disparities exist for the population they serve. Two approaches for determining disparities were used. One approach reviewed disaggregated home visiting data by region and race and ethnicity, and another approach examined disaggregated state or county level data. LIAs then chose a topic with room for improvement within their population. To address inclusion, LIAs individually decided how to include family voice in their CQI projects. This process identifies a way to incorporate health equity and inclusion into home visiting program work, and continuous quality improvement projects.
Aggregated data often masks disparities among populations. Shifting towards analyzing disaggregated data will provide opportunities to address disparities and allow for more focused solutions. Similarly, without the population’s voice in decision making, true barriers may be masked by perceived barriers. Incorporating equity and inclusion into home visiting continuous quality improvement projects will shape a more equitable future for families.
About 50% of the presentation will include a description of the project, including sharing the poster or PowerPoint slides on the screen for all attendees to reference. Added throughout the presentation will be polls for the attendees to answer which will represent an additional 10% of the time. After the presentation, 25% of the time will be available for a Q&A session and 15% of the time will be used as a discussion for attendees to share additional thoughts on health equity and parent voice, and share resources that all participants may find helpful in the continuation of the work.

Abbreviated Description: The objective of this project was to incorporate health equity and parent voice into continuous quality improvement (CQI) projects. Local Implementing Agencies (LIAs) have adopted the specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound, inclusion, and equity (SMARTIE) aim format. To address equity, LIAs considered what disparities exist for the population they serve using two methods; disaggregated home visiting data by region and ethnicity and race or disaggregated state or county level data was reviewed. LIAs then chose a topic with room for improvement within their population. To address inclusion, LIAs individually decided how to include family voice in their CQI projects. This process identifies a way to incorporate health equity and inclusion into home visiting program work.