Social Determinants Among Pregnant Clients With Perinatal Depression, Anxiety, Or Serious Mental Illness.

To characterize co-occurring social determinants of health for clients experiencing perinatal anxiety and depression (perinatal mood and anxiety disorders) or serious mental illness (SMI) in a diverse population receiving prenatal care in a safety-net health system, we conducted a latent class analysis, using data from a social determinants screener in pregnancy for the health system's clients during 2017-20. The sample included clients with positive screens for depression or anxiety or SMI diagnoses. Prenatal clients with a positive screen for perinatal mood and anxiety disorders or SMI comprised 13-30 percent of classes, characterized by more than two co-occurring social determinants (for example, co-occurring socioeconomic and interpersonal factors). The study findings highlight the salience of social determinants among prenatal patients experiencing perinatal mood and anxiety disorder and SMI and suggest the necessity of consistent screening for both social determinants and perinatal mental health. Policies to address social determinants within and beyond health care settings are critical.

"MAMA's is like a second mom:" Client and Staff Experiences in a Comprehensive Social Risk Care Management Program Within a Perinatal Medical Home.

INTRODUCTION: Addressing persistent racial inequities in preterm birth requires innovative health care approaches. The Los Angeles County Maternity Assessment and Management Access Service Synergy Neighborhood program (MAMA's) is a perinatal medical home program designed to alleviate the impacts of chronic stress by addressing social determinants of health. It reduced odds of preterm birth rates in Black participants, yet it is unclear which program components most contributed to this reduction. This study seeks to understand the experiences of staff and clients within the MAMA's program to identify what factors decrease stress, how the program addresses racism and the challenges and opportunities of optimizing health during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: 21 staff and 34 clients completed semi-structured interviews from November 2020-December 2021. Separate interview guides for staff and clients explored experiences within the program, experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how racism affects clients. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Analysis used a phenomenologic framework. Coding was performed using grounded theory to identify themes. RESULTS: Analysis revealed six key themes: Stressors clients face, barriers for undocumented, Latina, and Spanish-speaking clients, exceptional care, emotional support, naming and responding to racism and discrimination, and impacts of COVID-19 pandemic. DISCUSSION: Staff and clients work together to address social needs in order to address chronic stress and racism in their lives, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interviews revealed relationship building is a cornerstone of the program's success and plays a significant role in alleviating chronic stress in this population.

Implementation of cross-sector partnerships: a description of implementation factors related to addressing social determinants to reduce racial disparities in adverse birth outcomes.

Introduction: Traditional perinatal care alone cannot address the social and structural determinants that drive disparities in adverse birth outcomes. Despite the wide acceptance of partnerships between healthcare systems and social service agencies to address this challenge, there needs to be more research on the implementation factors that facilitate (or hinder) cross-sector partnerships, particularly from the perspective of community-based organizations. This study aimed to integrate the views of healthcare staff and community-based partner organizations to describe the implementation of a cross-sector partnership designed to address social and structural determinants in pregnancy. Methods: We used a mixed methods design (in-depth interviews and social network analysis) to integrate the perspectives of healthcare clinicians and staff with those of community-based partner organizations to identify implementation factors related to cross-sector partnerships. Results: We identified seven implementation factors related to three overarching themes: relationship-centered care, barriers and facilitators of cross-sector partnerships, and strengths of a network approach to cross-sector collaboration. Findings emphasized establishing relationships between healthcare staff, patients, and community-based partner organizations. Conclusion: This study provides practical insights for healthcare organizations, policymakers, and community organizations that aim to improve access to social services among historically marginalized perinatal populations.

Interest in Clinic-Based Financial Services among Low-Income Prenatal Patients and its Association with Health-Related Social Risk Factors.

BACKGROUND: Poverty and financial stress affect prenatal health and well-being as well as early childhood development. This study sought to examine interest in clinic-based financial services to address financial stress in low-income, Medicaid-enrolled prenatal patients and its relationship with self-reported social risks. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients at a large safety-net prenatal clinic. Participants completed a written survey on interest in linkage to financial services, poverty-related financial stress, difficulty affording social needs, and interest in services to address material hardships. We compared interest in financial and social needs services by level of financial stress using multivariate regression. RESULTS: Respondents (N = 108) were entirely Medicaid-enrolled, with a majority identifying as Hispanic/Latinx (57%) or Black/African American (20%). Sixty-four percent indicated interest in connection to any of the financial services surveyed. Interest was highest in employment (52%), savings and budgeting (49%), job training/adult education (49%), and financial counseling (48%) services. Individuals with high financial stress, compared to those with low financial stress, expressed a higher level of interest in financial services (aRR = 1.61 [95% CI 1.12-2.39]). Interest in financial services was associated with difficulty affording social needs (aRR = 2.24 [95% CI 1.33-4.43]) and interest in services addressing social needs (aRR = 1.45 [95% CI 1.13-1.92]). CONCLUSION: In this study of low-income, Medicaid-insured prenatal patients, there was a high degree of interest in clinic-based financial services. Integrating financial services into prenatal health care appears to be an approach that low-income patients would be interested in to directly address poverty and financial stress.

Prioritizing Surgical Services during on-Going Pandemic Response: Modification and Reliability of the Medically Necessary Time Sensitive Surgery (MeNTS) Scoring Tool.

Health systems are struggling to manage a fluctuating volume of critically ill patients with COVID-19 while continuing to provide basic surgical services and expand capacity to address operative cases delayed by the pandemic. As we move forward through the next phases of the pandemic, we will need a decision-making system that allows us to remain nimble as clinicians to meet our patient's needs while also working with a new framework of healthcare operations. Here, we present our quality improvement process for the adaptation and application of the Medically Necessary Time-Sensitive (MeNTS) toolto gynecologic surgical services beyond the initial COVID response and into recovery of surgical services; with analysis of the reliability of the modified-MeNTS tool in our multi-site safety net hospital network. This multicenter study evaluated the gynecology surgical case volume at three tertiary acute care safety net institutions within the LA County Department of Health Services: Harbor-UCLA (HUMC), Olive View Medical Center (OVMC), and Los Angeles County + University of Southern California (LAC+USC). We describe our modified-Delphi approach to adapt the MeNTS tool in a structured fashion and its application to gynecologic surgical services. Blinded reviewers engaged in a three-round iterative adaptation and final scoring utilizing the modified tool. The cohort consisted of 392 female consecutive gynecology patients across three Los Angeles County Hospitals awaiting scheduled procedures in the surgical queue.The majority of patients were Latina (74.7%) and premenopausal (67.1%). Over half (52.4%) of the patients had cardiovascular disease, while 13.0% had lung disease, and 13.8% had diabetes. The most common indications for surgery were abnormal uterine bleeding (33.2%), pelvic organ prolapse (19.6%) and presence of an adnexal mass (14.3%). Minimally invasive approaches via laparoscopy, robotic-assisted laparoscopy, or vaginal surgery was the predominant planned surgical route (54.8%). Modified-MeNTS scores assumed a normal distribution across all patients within our cohort (Median 33, Range 18-52). Overall, ICC across all three institutions demonstrated "good" interrater reliability (0.72). ICC within institutions at HUMC and OVMC were categorized as "good" interrater reliability, while LAC-USC interrater reliability was categorized as "excellent" (HUMC 0.73, OVMC 0.65, LAC+USC 0.77). The modified-MeNTS tool performed well across a range of patients and procedures with a normal distribution of scores and high reliability between raters. We propose that the modified-MeNTS framework be considered as it employs quantitative methods for decision-making rather than subjective assessments.

Associations Between Prenatal Food Insecurity and Prematurity, Pediatric Health Care Utilization, and Postnatal Social Needs.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood food insecurity endangers child development and health outcomes. Food insecurity will grow increasingly common in the economic wake of the coronavirus pandemic and prenatal care represents an early, clinical opportunity to identify families at risk. However, longitudinal relationships between clinically-identified prenatal food insecurity and prematurity, pediatric health care utilization, and postnatal social needs have not been described. METHODS: We examined longitudinal data from mother-child dyads who received prenatal and pediatric care and social needs screening at a large academically-affiliated safety net medical center between October 2018 and July 2019. Associations among household food insecurity and premature birth, pediatric inpatient and outpatient utilization, missed immunizations, and postnatal social needs were estimated using adjusted regression. RESULTS: Among the 268 mothers, those who experienced prenatal household food insecurity had 3 times higher odds of having a child born prematurely (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-8.9, P = .05) and had children with higher inpatient hospitalizations (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 2.4, 95% CI 1.0-5.6, P = .04) and missed immunizations (IRR 3.4, 95% CI 1.1-10.3, P = .03) in the first 6 months of the child's life. These mothers also had higher odds of having any social needs in the pediatric setting (odds ratio 3.4; 95% CI 1.5-8.0, P = .004). CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal household food insecurity was linked to future adverse perinatal and pediatric outcomes in low-income mother-child dyads. Food insecurity identifies children at social and medical risk, providing an early clinical opportunity to intervene.

Success of an EMR-Driven Postpartum Intervention to Improve HPV Vaccination Rates.

Human papillomavirus vaccination (HPV) remains low in the United States. The inpatient postpartum setting provides an innovative opportunity to vaccinate eligible patients. This study evaluated two different interventions to improve HPV vaccination rates in hospitalized postpartum patients: a nurse based protocol and an electronic medical record (EMR) postpartum order prompt. This was a comparative intervention study performed in a prospective cohort of postpartum patients at two affiliated County Hospitals. The intervention was conducted over a 6-month period aimed at increasing HPV vaccination rates through a nurse based protocol at one hospital (H-NBP) and an EMR postpartum order prompt at the second hospital (H-EMR). Outcomes measures included vaccine administration, patient refusal, and vaccine wastage. A multiple logistic regression model was used to compare outcomes. At H-NBP, 143 vaccine-eligible patients (74%) were identified of which 44 (32%) received the HPV vaccine, 66 (46%) refused, and 33 (21%) had missed opportunities. At H-EMR, 169 patients (87%) were identified as vaccine-eligible of which 111 (66%) received the HPV4 vaccine, 24 (14%) refused and 34 (20%) had missed opportunities. After adjusting for sociodemographic variables, patients at H-EMR were nearly 6 times more likely than patients at H-NBP to undergo postpartum HPV vaccination (OR 5.865, CI 3.358-10.245, p value < 0.0001). An EMR prompt offers a greater impact on HPV vaccination rates than a nursing protocol. The feasibility and success of inpatient postpartum HPV vaccination interventions as demonstrated in this study provides insights on how to approach vaccination strategies in nontraditional clinical settings.

Tough Choices: Exploring Decision-Making for Pregnancy Intentions and Prevention Among Girls in the Justice System.

Despite California's declining teen pregnancy rate, teens in the juvenile justice system have higher rates than their nonincarcerated counterparts. This study explored domains that may shape decision-making for pregnancy prevention in this group. Twenty purposively selected female teens with a recent incarceration participated in hour-long semistructured interviews about their future plans, social networks, access to reproductive health services, and sexual behavior. Transcripts revealed that, contrary to literature, desire for unconditional love and lack of access to family planning services did not mediate decision-making. Lack of future planning, poor social support, and limited social mobility shaped youths' decisions to use contraceptives. Understanding this group's social location and the domains that inform decision-making for pregnancy intentions and prevention provides clues to help programs predict and serve this population's needs.

Documentation of Contraception and Pregnancy Intention In Medicaid Managed Care.

CONTEXT: Clinical guidelines recommend the documentation of pregnancy intention and family planning needs during primary care visits. Prior to the 2014 Medicaid expansion and release of these guidelines, the documentation practices of Medicaid managed care providers are unknown. METHODS: We performed a chart review of 1054 Medicaid managed care visits of women aged 13 to 49 to explore client, provider, and visit characteristics associated with documentation of immediate or future plans for having children and contraceptive method use. Five managed care plans used Current Procedural Terminology and International Classificationof Diseases, Ninth Revision codes to identify providers with at least 15 women who had received family planning or well-woman care in 2013. We conducted multilevel logistic regression analyses with documentation of contraceptive method and pregnancy intention as outcome variables and clinic site as the level 2 random effect. RESULTS: Only 12% of charts had documentation of pregnancy intention and 59% documented contraceptive use. Compared to women with a family planning visit reason, women with an annual, reproductive health, or primary care reason for their visit were significantly less likely to have contraception documented (odds ratio [OR] = 11.0; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 6.8-17.7). Age was also a significant predictor with women aged 30 to 49 (OR = 0.6; 95% CI = 0.4-0.9), and women aged 13 to 19 (OR = 0.2; 95% CI = 0.1-0.6) being less likely to have a note about pregnancy intention in their chart. Pregnancy intention was more likely to be documented in multispecialty clinics (OR = 15.5; 95% CI = 2.7-89.2). CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to improve routine medical record documentation of contraception and pregnancy intention regardless of patient age and visit characteristics are needed to facilitate the provision of family planning in managed care visits and, ultimately, achieving better maternal infant health outcomes and reduced costs.

Paradigm shifts: using a participatory leadership process to redesign health systems.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Physicians have increasingly given up private practices to become members of, and key stakeholders in, large healthcare systems. These systems are currently transforming to meet the Triple Aim: guaranteeing the equitable provision of high-quality, evidence-based care at a reasonable cost. Participatory leadership is an organizational change theory that engages key stakeholders as architects in the transformation process. This review highlights the utility of this leadership strategy in designing care for women's health. RECENT FINDINGS: Our blueprint describing participatory leadership theory in women's health systems change is discussed in three case studies, highlighting what we call the six Ps of participatory leadership: participants, principles, purpose, process, and power. The 'sixth P', product, can then be substantially influential in changing the paradigm of care. SUMMARY: Obstetrics and gynecology is increasingly practiced in large health systems responsible for the health of populations. Innovations in clinical practice impact care at the level of the individual. In order for advances in clinical practice to reach broad populations of women, they must be integrated into a delivery system. Physician engagement in leadership during this time of system transformation is of critical importance.