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Healthy Generations eNewsletter

October 2023

Healthy Generations eNewsletter October 2023

This eNewsletter is brought to you by the

Center for Leadership Education in Maternal and Child Public Health.

Annoucements

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Mental Health and Well-being: A Socio-Ecological Model

World Mental Health Day was celebrated on October 10. The Mental Health and Well-being Socio-Ecological Model was created to visually illustrate the individual, family, organization, community, and societal factors that influence mental health and well-being.


The World Health Organization describes health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Similarly, this mental well-being model considers the whole person and mental health across the lifespan. The influence of all contexts, systems, and environments on an individual and family must be recognized to completely understand and support healthy development among individuals and families. This socio-ecological model was created to help shift the narrative about mental health and mental illness from an individual issue to include the social and environmental responsibility of others. This model also helps to shift the mental health narrative from one focused on illness to mental well-being, or flourishing.

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MCH Leads Blog: The Importance of Communication to Build Family-Professional Relationships: An Evaluation of Louisiana’s Partners for Healthy Babies Hotline

Isabella Walters, from the HRSA-funded Maternal and Child Health Catalyst Program at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, is the newest author for the Health Equity Edition of MCH Leads, the student-led national MCH trainee blog. In her blog post, Isabella applies MCH Competencies 5 (Communication), 8 (Family-Professional Relationships), and 11 (Working with Communities and Systems) to her Title V MCH Internship, where she co-led a program evaluation of the Louisiana Department of Health Bureau of Family Health’s resource and referral processes for pregnant people and new parents/caregivers. “As MCH professionals, we are tasked with equitably communicating important health information to populations of interest in a meaningful and accessible way…” Continue reading more about Isabella’s health equity efforts here!

Student Spotlight: How is Ruth Arévalo's Interest in Health Equity and Storytelling/Data Visualization Inspiring the Direction of their Masters Program?

#UMNMCH student Ruth Arévalo (they/she) (MPH 2024) wrote a reflection on how their community work, nursing career, and deployment have contributed to their career in MCH. Ruth was deployed to Hennepin County Public Health to facilitate childhood immunizations by characterizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and social vulnerability index (SVI) to plan community-level implementation and interventions. Ruth wrote, “My deep commitment to narrative and understanding stories has been a skill that has allowed me to walk into this shifting landscape and understand public health with all that I am.” Read more here.

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Hot off the Press! "State Laws on Substance Use Treatment for Incarcerated Pregnant and Postpartum People"

The Cross-Center Collaboration on the Health of Justice-Involved Women and Children (JIWC) is a group of formerly or currently HRSA-funded faculty, staff, and students working on research, policy, training issues, and topics at the intersection of incarceration and MCH. Their newest publication, released this September, detailed the existing laws and policies surrounding substance use treatment during incarceration, specifically as it applies to pregnant and postpartum people. Center faculty member and MCH Program alumni Dr. Rebecca Shlafer, Center Director Sara Benning, and MCH alumni Rosemary Laine are among the authors of the paper.


To learn more about alternatives to incarceration for pregnant and postpartum people, please see the JIWC’s policy brief.

Center Events

The Center is proud to co-sponsor the following events:

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Mini-Lab: Template Analysis as a Method for Rapid Qualitative Inquiry in Public Health Research with Patrick Brady and Grace Ryan

October 12, 2023 | 11:30 AM 1:00 PM CDT

The Bright Spots Mini-Lab supports the growing interest in qualitative and mixed-methods research among public health practitioners, students, and researchers. "Learning Lab" sessions provide attendees with an opportunity to learn from and consult with experts on activities that build on the qualitative research skills they’ve learned in classrooms or while at work in their agencies.


Template analysis involves creating a hierarchical code for analyzing qualitative data, beginning with broad themes deemed important based on the data that branch out into more specific themes. The idea is to create structure while still allowing flexibility for application to different kinds of studies. Here is a list of resources on template analysis that would be worthwhile to explore prior to the event.


In this workshop, attendees will build their understanding of:


  1. Recognizing when rapid qualitative methods would be most appropriate
  2. Describing the steps of template analysis as a rapid qualitative method
  3. Proposing how to use template analysis in one’s own research program
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Preventing Separation and Childhood Trauma: Time for Front-End Action to Preserve Families

October 20, 2023 | 3:00 PM CDT

We are pleased to share that the University of Illinois Chicago Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health is hosting the next Justice-Involved Women and Children Collaborative (JIWC) webinar. Speakers Gail Smith and Diana Delgado will discuss alternatives to incarceration and the Children’s Best Interest Act, which requires courts to consider children's needs when sentencing parents.


Diana Delgado served as the Advocacy Coordinator at Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM), and is a speaker for Lake County Haven. She is working toward her associate’s degree in Human Services majoring in addiction studies at the College of Lake County. Gail T. Smith is an attorney and the director of the Children’s Best Interest Project. She founded and led Chicago Legal Advocacy for Incarcerated Mothers (CLAIM), and she won enactment of Illinois laws to end shackling during pregnancy and labor, and to establish community-based sentencing.

Research

Advancing Racial Equity in Early Childhood Through Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation | Child Trends

Young children, especially those from historically marginalized backgrounds, benefit from high-quality early care and education (ECE) to thrive later in life. This brief explores how Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation (IECMHC) can help early childhood programs and professionals advance racial equity in ECE and therefore address early social-emotional and educational disparities. The resource provides equity-focused recommendations to help IECMHC programs, researchers, and policymakers expand IECMHC’s potential as a model.

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Events

Minnesota Health Equity Networks Regional Gatherings

October 19, 2023 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT | Northwest
October 31, 2023 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT | Southeast
November 7, 2023 | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT | Southwest

November 8, 2023 | 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM CDT | Central

Achieving health equity is important for all people and requires a systemic approach to making sure that people and communities have access to what they need to be healthy and well. Often people and communities are prevented from being as healthy as they can be by unjust or unfair barriers, and these are called health inequities. Join MDH’s Minnesota Health Equity Networks Regional Gatherings to learn more about what is happening to advance health equity work in communities.

#PlaceMatters Webinar - A New Lens on Poverty: Working Towards Fairness of Place in the United States from Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child

October 11, 2023 | 12:30 PM CDT | Virtual

Join the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University for this discussion. They will explore how the qualities of the places where people live are shaped by historic and current policies, which have created deep disadvantages across many communities with important implications for the health and development of the children who live there. Drawing from the salient example of the Flint water crisis, they will highlight opportunities and strategies to improve existing conditions to allow all children to thrive.

-Register

Severe Maternal Morbidity and Risks of Adverse Outcomes in Women and Children with Ugochinyere Vivian Ukah, PhD, MPH

October 13, 2023 | 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CDT | West Bank Office Building

Pregnancy complications, such as hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and other severe maternal morbidity, disproportionately affects Black and Hispanic women and other vulnerable populations and can result in serious short-term health outcomes for both mother (e.g., eclampsia and stroke), and child (e.g., stillbirth, and preterm delivery), as well as long-term outcomes e.g., increased risk of cardiovascular disease in women. Pregnancy may therefore serve as a window to identify women and children at high-risk of chronic health outcomes, including Black women, and prevent adverse outcomes through early prediction of risks, clinical surveillance, and effective interventions. In this talk, the speaker will highlight her studies on the prediction of adverse maternal outcomes and identifying long-term health risks after pregnancy complications, using epidemiological methods and large datasets. (Part of the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health (EpiCH) Seminar Series).

Child Psychological Maltreatment: Identification to Intervention

October 17, 2023 | 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM CDT | Washburn Center for Children, Minneapolis | $80

The Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health (MACMH) is hosting this event with presenters Marla R. Brassard, PhD, Professor Emerita, Columbia University, and Stuart N. Hart, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis. Child psychological maltreatment (CPM) is the most prevalent form of abuse and neglect, produces the longest lasting and widest array of negative developmental consequences, receives the least adequate societal intervention across all tiers, and is given the least attention in the education and training of those responsible for ensuring the safety, resilience, and wellbeing of children.

-Register

Bringing Intersectionality into Sex, Gender and Health Research with Greta Bauer, PhD, MPH

October 20, 2023 | 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM CDT | West Bank Office Building

The Division of Epidemiology and Community Health (EpiCH) Seminar Series brings together leading public health practitioners and researchers who address our mission to improve the public’s health through state-of-the-art research, translation of research into practice, and innovative training.

Addressing Bullying Through Social-Emotional Learning and Restorative Relationship Driven Practices

October 25, 2023 | 12:30 PM - 3:30 PM CDT | Virtual | $45

Being bullied significantly harms a child’s ability to flourish both in school and in the community. This MACMH presentation examines the devastating harm impacting young people who are bullied and offers prevention and intervention strategies to minimize bullying in schools and the community. Feeling safe and supported in school is essential to a child’s social, emotional, behavioral, and academic development. Bullying threatens a student’s civil rights and is often a form of discrimination based on multiple factors such as race, national origin, disabilities, sexual orientation, gender identity, family income, and more.

-Register

Mythbusters: What’s Tried and True; What’s New? Infants and Young Children

October 27, 2023 | 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM CDT | New Brighton Community Center, New Brighton

From crib safety to nursing pillows to early childhood development and beyond--views about keeping infants and young children safe are always changing. The panelists, Dr. Michelle Haggerty and Jennie Lippert, MHA, and forum attendees will also explore ongoing concerns about infant and maternal morbidity and mortality. The event is hosted by the Minnesota Association for Public Health (MPHA) as part of their “Public Health Matters” Policy Forum Series.

-Register

Using the FRAME: A Pre-Diagnostic Lens to Help Us Better Understand Our Clients’ Experience

October 27, 2023 | 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM CDT | Virtual | $30

In the mental health field, professionals are trained to think diagnostically, inquire about symptoms, listen carefully, and find a diagnosis that accurately captures our client’s difficulties. This MACMH presentation will introduce a different starting point with clients, a way to uncover factors that may be contributing to symptoms but are not necessarily indicative of mental illness. By using the FRAME, clinicians and clients can identify these factors together, consider their impact, and pinpoint changes that can be made.

-Register

6th Annual Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Conference

November 5 - 7, 2023 | Minnetonka, MN and Virtual | $10 - $335

This conference will promote infant and early childhood mental health principles to inform practice across disciplines. It will bring together a vast network of multidisciplinary professionals from across the state who all work with young children, their families, and caregivers. MACMH welcomes early care and education professionals, mental health professionals, home visitors, public health and child welfare professionals, and all others who support young children prenatal-6 and their families and caregivers to participate.

-Register

2023 National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) Conference: The Way We Are Now–Families and Communities at the Center of the Syndemic

November 8-11, 2023 | In-Person and Virtual | $237 - $627

The 2023 NCFR annual conference will highlight and critically examine the ways in which the current syndemic has and continues to change the lives of families across the globe. In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, communities and nations are also struggling with a variety of social injustices (e.g., racism, gun violence, homophobia, and climate change). Together these constitute a syndemic. The conference theme is meant to adopt the forward-looking theme from 1944 and call attention to how families and communities have been and continue to be impacted by what has become a syndemic.

-Register

Understanding Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Facts, Strategies, and Personal Insights from Youth with Lived Experience

November 9, 2023 | 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM CDT | Virtual | $30

This MAMCH presentation will present information on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), address common misunderstandings, and offer practical strategies. Learn how prenatal alcohol exposure impacts brain development, and how to use this information to improve outcomes for individuals with FASD. Youth with FASD will also share their personal stories and advice based on their own experiences.

-Register

2023 Overcoming Racism Conference: Reclaiming History and Paying What’s Due

November 10 - 11, 2023 | Saint Paul, MN and Virtual | $160 - $250

The Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative (FREC) is hosting its 15th annual Overcoming Racism Conference with keynote speaker Dr. Yohuru Williams, a Distinguished University Chair and Professor of History and Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas. The theme focuses on two distinct and related topics: (1) Historical Recovery – reclaiming movements, strategies, and approaches from the past that could be useful in our current work—if they were known, and (2) Paying What’s Due to those harmed by oppressive acts sanctioned by government and every other sector in our society in which primarily Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) communities were stripped of their land, rights and ability to create generational wealth. Black and Indigenous people also experienced cultural genocide, of which the after-effects are still felt today.

-Register

Resources

Campaign: Talking Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a common mental health condition that can affect anyone. While it can feel hard or lonely, healing from PPD is possible. This campaign from the Office on Women's Health (OWH) shares factsheets, resources, tips, and personal stories of PPD.

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Education: MN Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act Indigenous Birthing Learning Course

The Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity (CARHE, pronounced "care") has shared its contributions to the Minnesota Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth (MN DiPC) Act Indigenous birthing learning course. Developed in a partnership among CARHE, their long-time partners Diversity Science, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), and amazing Indigenous community stakeholders, the MN DiPC antiracist and anti-bias training courses focus on the root causes of Indigenous maternal health inequities: racism and colonialism. The Indigenous birthing course is now available, complementing the Black birthing course released earlier this year. These learning courses aim to inform and bring awareness to the impact of racism, how it presents itself in perinatal care, and how we can address the maternal health crisis in Minnesota.

Recording: Culturally Driven Strategies–Tailoring Health Communications to Build Understanding and Trust

The Public Health Communications Collaborative is providing a series of free webinars for public health communicators featuring experts with on-the-ground experience in communicating evolving COVID-19 issues to the public. Watch the Culturally Driven Strategies webinar as well as other previously recorded webinars. They also developed the Strategies for Developing Culturally Driven Public Health Communications resource.

Grant Request for Proposals: Expanding Model Jail Practices to Support Children of Incarcerated Parents

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) seeks proposals from eligible applicants to participate in the Minnesota Model Jail Practices Learning community and implement strategies to support children of incarcerated parents. There are two grant tracks:


𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗔. Model Jail Practices to Support Children of Incarcerated Parents: Eligible applicants include county or tribal jails, or a county or tribal entity that is authorized to apply on behalf of the jail facility. Track A applicants will implement changes consistent with the National Institute of Corrections Model Practices for Parents in Prisons and Jails (Peterson et al., 2019), such as implementing parenting education classes, asking about parent status at booking, and expanding visiting opportunities for children and families.


𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗕. Programs and Supports for Children of Incarcerated Parents: Eligible applicants include county government, tribal governments, or other community-based non-profits in corresponding areas to the jail participants. Track B applicants will implement programs that are designed for or offer support specifically for children and families who have an incarcerated parent can help to mitigate the impacts of parental incarceration and improve their social, emotional, and mental wellbeing. Programs may include things such as support groups or affinity spaces for children and youth with an incarcerated parent, youth camps, or educational programs.

-Apply

Call for Solutions: HHS Innovation Challenge to Prevent Human Trafficking Among Women and Girls

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) OWH, will award up to $1.8 million to organizations with successful innovative and life-changing approaches to address human trafficking prevention among women and girls in the U.S.

-Apply

National Observances

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Copyright © 2023 The Center for Leadership Education in Maternal & Child Public Health - University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

The Center for Leadership Education
in Maternal & Child Public Health

The Center is supported by HHS HRSA (grant # T76MC00005). https://mch.umn.edu