Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Descriptive Title of Applicant's Project: Healthy Start New Orleans Abstract: The New Orleans Health Department (NOHD) requests funding from the Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating Disparities in Perinatal Health Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-24-033 to support Healthy Start New Orleans (HSNO). This is a competing continuation grant application. HSNO is a current recipient of HRSA-19-049 and has demonstrated impact on reducing infant mortality and improving perinatal outcomes in the project area by meeting more than 10 out of 19 of the Healthy Start Benchmarks for Calendar Year 2022. HSNO met 15 of 19 Healthy Start Benchmarks in Calendar Year 2022. The project area is urban. The project area is Orleans Parish. The target population is Black women and children who face severe disparities in perinatal outcomes including an Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) of 10.1% with 73 infant deaths from 2019-2021. The purpose of the proposed project is to implement essential Healthy Start program activities including case management/care coordination and group health education through a lifecourse approach to achieve the core elements needed to improve women’s health, family health, and community/population health. Additionally, HSNO will continue to develop a common agenda, share measurement approaches, coordinate resources, and conduct performance measurement through the Community Consortium, working in partnership with community members, the New Orleans Maternal Child Health Coalition, the Fetal Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) and/or Louisiana Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review (LaPAMR) and other partners. It is understood that HSNO is responsible for reaching the entire Orleans Parish community, thereby driving collective impact and supporting community change. HSNO proposes to continue a comprehensive case management and home visiting program sharply focused on improving health outcomes among Black women and infants who experience significant dis parities in perinatal outcomes. Black women are almost twice as likely to have a preterm birth than white women in Orleans Parish. While parish-specific data for maternal mortality is not available, Louisiana data shows that between 2011-2018, Black women were three times more likely than white women to experience a pregnancy related death. Black infants also face dramatically worse outcomes, with rates of prematurity and infant mortality that are two times and three times respectively the rates for white infants. The outcome disparities for Black families demonstrate that the more advanced, focused home visiting model is necessary to meet the needs of this community. Evidence from previous New Orleans Healthy Start programs, and other programs nationwide, make it clear that these programs are an evidence based intervention for reducing infant mortality and improving perinatal health outcomes. We aim to continue to serve as a model for local,state, and national partners using a cross-sector, focused approach to comprehensively address infants and families health throughout the life course, from preconception through the first 18 months after birth, with a focus on addressing racial gaps and inequities that widened during the COVID-19 pandemic through a combination of direct services and a Community Consortium to address social determinants of health. HSNO will help transform neighborhoods and reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes by deploying our resources to the populations of greatest need and working with partners from health, education, economic, and community sectors to drive true community change through collective impact.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
