Thursday, November 21, 2024
11/21/2024
Address: 149-18 Jamaica Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11435 Project Director Name: Camille Tinder Contact Phone Numbers: 646-619-6463 Email Address: ctinder@healthsolutions.org Website Address: www.healthsolutions.org Grant program funds requested in the application: $5,500,000 Public Health Solutions (PHS) is New York City’s (NYC) largest public health non-profit and a long-standing community-based leader in developing systems approaches to addressing the social determinants of health through community resource network development. Through Queens Healthy Start (QHS), PHS will address both the systemic factors resulting in inequitable perinatal outcomes as well as provide comprehensive direct and enabling services to the target population of Black, non-Hispanic women insured by Medicaid across the reproductive life course in our proposed project area (PPA) of 25 zip codes in south Queens County, NYC: 11412, 11423, 11432, 11433, 11434, 11435, 11436, 11004, 11005, 11411, 11413, 11422, 11426, 11427, 11428, 11429, 11414, 11415, 11416, 11417, 11418, 11419, 11420, 11421 and 11691. Identified through 2019-2021 vital statistics data, these zip codes have the highest need and have a collective low birth weight rate of 13.7 with 607 low birth weight births above 1.5 times the national average of 12.5%. Infant and maternal health outcomes are inextricably linked. The leading cause of infant mortality in South Queens is pre-term birth, meaning babies are born too small and too soon. To comprehensively improve infant health outcomes, the focus needs to be on improving the health and wellness of their pregnant parent. Critically, the most recent data available shows that mental health conditions (including accidental substance overdose and suicide) are the leading cause of pregnancy-associated death in NYC. This data highlights the need for a multi-faceted approach to caring for individuals and families. QHS will fill gaps in community and clinical progra mming to support a comprehensive perinatal support system freely and easily accessible in south Queens. Through a perinatal health home approach, QHS will provide comprehensive case management, prenatal/postpartum and parenting health education, connection to clinical and social services including behavioral health individual and group support and will leverage Family Connect at WholeYouNYC (FC). FC is our coordinated intake and referral service, through which PHS streamlines access for community members to a large network of community resources that addresses the social determinants of health and the needs of pregnant and parenting families. The Queens Healthy Start Community Consortium will determine how FC is fully implemented in the PPA and will identify systemic barriers negatively impacting individual and family health and wellness. QHS doulas will provide full-spectrum doula care and QHS clinical partners will provide both Centering Pregnancy group prenatal care, which has been shown to improve birth outcomes for clinical low-risk pregnant people, and a modified Centering model for people with gestational diabetes. This work will be informed by the QHS Community Consortium, which will expand its impact by identifying and addressing drivers of inequitable perinatal health outcomes in south Queens. The Consortium will also work to support a stress-free zone approach in south Queens, increasing access to services that support health and wellness and a feeling of community and belonging for pregnant and parenting families. By focusing on health and wellness across the individual, community, and socio-economic conditions that south Queens residents live and raise their families in, Queens Healthy Start will have a measurable and comprehensive impact on the goal of the Healthy Start Initiative to improve health outcomes before, during, and after pregnancy and reduce the well-documented racial/ethnic differences in rates of infant death and adverse perinatal out comes.
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).
