Fostering Resilience in Pregnancy and Early Childhood During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The HUGS/Abrazos Program Design and Implementation.
Front Public Health
; 9: 633285, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1231422
ABSTRACT
Pregnancy and early childhood pose unique sensitivity to stressors such as economic instability, poor mental health, and social inequities all of which have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic. In absence of protective buffers, prolonged exposure to excessive, early adversity can lead to poor health outcomes with significant impact lasting beyond the childhood years. Helping Us Grow Stronger (HUGS/Abrazos) is a community-based program, designed and launched at the time of the COVID-19 surge in the Spring of 2020, that combines emergency relief, patient navigation, and direct behavioral health support to foster family resilience and mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-related toxic stress on pregnant women and families with children under age 6. Through a targeted referral process, community health workers provide resource navigation for social needs, and a social worker provides behavioral health support. The use of innovative tools such as a centralized resource repository, community health workers with specialized knowledge in this age range, and a direct referral system seeks to assist in streamlining communication and ensuring delivery of quality care. We aim to serve over 300 families within the 1st year. The HUGS/Abrazos program aims to fill an important void by providing the necessary tools and interventions to support pregnant women and young families impacted by adversity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Limits:
Child
/
Child, preschool
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Pregnancy
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Public Health
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fpubh.2021.633285
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