Inculcating Equity to Cultivate Equity Leaders in Maternal and Child Health

Monday, May 8, 2023

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM CST

Attending Author(s)

Karen A. Chustz, MSW (she/her/hers)

Senior Program Manager
National Healthy Start Association
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States

Co-Author(s)

SS

Saanie Sulley, MD. PhD (he/him/his)

Researcher
National Healthy Start Association
Washington DC, District of Columbia, United States

Background: Structural racism has been identified as a root cause of racial health disparities and social determinants of health (Yearby, 2022, para 1). In 2020, the maternal mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black women was 55.3 deaths per 100,000 live births, almost 3 times the rate for non-Hispanic White women (CDC, 2022).

Objectives: The AIM CCI Racial Equity Learning Series (RELS) is a comprehensive, evidenced-informed module series accredited through the American Public Health Association (APHA) to aid providers in understanding factors that contribute to inequitable care and poor maternal health outcomes to reduce inequitable clinical practices that contribute to poor maternal care. The AIM CCI RELS Leadership User Guide, which is tailored for leadership (i.e., management, (non) clinical directors; CEO’s; organizational/institutional leads; training managers; Human Resources), offers support across the spectrum (i.e., navigate team discussions, supports transformational change, and deepens institutional goals towards racial equity capacity. The RELS Leadership User Guide also provides a tailored dashboard unique to an organization/institution that entails useful tips, a featured dashboard to support RELS participants, and effective strategies to enhance team development.

Methods: NHSA- AIM CCI RELS integrates a multi-leveled approach to challenge systemic racism. Using a tool developed by AIM CCI known as the Self-Assessment Measurement for Racial Equity Capacity (SAMREC), NHSA- AIM CCI has administered a pre and post SAMREC assessment to measure racial equity capacity in varying clinical and non-clinical sites.

Results: NHSA- AIM CCI intends to analyze both quantitative (e.g., pre and post SAMREC evaluations; APHA evaluations) and qualitative (user feedback) data to assess the impact of individual, organizational, and institutional racial equity capacity.

Conclusions: The NHSA-AIM CCI RELS Leadership User Guide enhances leadership knowledge and understanding of systemic racism and its role in maternal health disparities to promote the health and life expectancy of BIPOC mothers and birthing persons.