Maternal and Child Health Assessment 2015
In 2015, the Minnesota Department of Health conducted a Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment for the state of
Minnesota. Under the direction of a community leadership team, this assessment identified nine priorities for improving
the health of mothers, children, adolescents, pregnant women, infants, and children and youth with special health needs.
Working with stakeholders from across Minnesota, the leadership team identified specific areas of focus for each priority,
along with possible measurements, strategies, practices, and action recommendations. We understand that there are some
overlap among the nine priority areas; to avoid duplication, most areas of focus are only identified once, even though they
could be under multiple priorities. (For example, prenatal care is important for both Preventive Health Care and Healthy
Babies, but it is only listed under Healthy and Planned Pregnancy.)
These priority sheets were created to provide data and ideas for community members, policy makers, public health
professionals, and others working towards improving maternal and child health in Minnesota.
Priority: Build Community Connectedness
Building stable communities that support stable families and individuals throughout Minnesota; and addressing and
preventing community and population level trauma.
Focus areas:
•
•
•
Building protective factors through connected communities.
Put community leaders in the forefront of planning for activities and policies that affect their communities.
Support community/population healing from historic or collective trauma.
The Maternal Child and Health Assessment Leadership Team identified these specific action
recommendations to increase community connectedness in Minnesota:
1. Create or identify measures to assess level of community connectedness.
2. Increase involvement of community members in the plans and activities that serve their communities.
3. Build capacity of communities to deliver services within their communities.
Building protective factors through connected communities
Objective: Individuals and families feel connected to their communities.
Percent of 9th grade students who feel that different people care about them “very much” or “quite a bit”
African
American
How much do you feel…
Asian
Hispanic
White
American
Indian
...other adult relatives care about you?
… teachers/other adults at school care
about you?
… religious or spiritual leaders care
about you?
… other adults in your community
care about you?
82%
80%
76%
81%
87%
41%
36%
41%
40%
46%
51%
43%
45%
45%
57%
36%
32%
33%
35%
44%
Page 1
6/7/2016
How much do you feel…
African
American
American
Indian
Asian
Hispanic
White
…friends care about you?
71%
71%
69%
70%
78%
Source: Minnesota Student Survey, 2010.
Chart 1: Percentage of Children Living in Supportive Neighborhoods
Source: National Survey of Children’s Health, 2011/2012.
Chart 2: Percentage of Families who definitely agree their neighborhood meets characteristics of a supportive
neighborhood, by race/ethnicity
Source: National Survey of Children’s Health, 2011/2012.
Measurements/outcomes for community connectedness:
•
•
•
Percent of students who feel people in their community care about them.
Percent of students engaged in out of school activities.
Percent of families reporting living in supportive neighborhoods.
Page 2
6/7/2016
Examples of strategies and practices to support community connectedness:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Increase community-based opportunities for social interaction.
Establish gay/straight alliance student clubs to make schools safer and more affirming for all students.
Establish and support current local caregiver support networks.
Create positive school climates to foster youth development, learning, and on-time graduation.
Establish partnerships with employers to fill job vacancies with qualified workers from the community.
Build community capacity to connect individuals, including those with special health needs, to their community
and build protective factors.
Build leadership capacity among youth, including youth with special health needs, through clubs, inclusion in
student government, etc.
Facilitate and reinforce cross-agency community planning efforts.
Promote development of service coordination skills, resources and efforts throughout community via schools,
community centers, in-home, etc.
Community education programs.
Café Model: tools or facilitation to create open discussion about family and community needs, to share wisdom
and resources.
Communities involved in plans and decisions that affect them
Objectives:
• Actively engage those experiencing issues or concerns in every aspect of addressing the problems.
• Strengthen understanding and skills of local public health staff in practicing community engagement.
• Increase the number of local public health agencies actively engaging with diverse communities in developing and
sustaining programs and services.
• Increase percentage of children with special health needs whose families are partners in shared decision-making for
child’s optimal health.
Chart 3: Percentage of CYSHN whose families are partners in shared decision-making
Source: National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs, 2009/2010.
Page 3
6/7/2016
Measurements/outcomes to support including communities in the decisions that affect them:
•
•
•
Percent of adults participating in planning community activities.
Percent of local public health boards maintaining ongoing engagement with community members.
Percent of children and youth with special health needs whose families are partners in shared decision-making.
Examples of strategies and practices to support including communities in decision-making:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Support development and capacity of diverse community leadership.
Greater State department focus on engagement and partnerships with communities; provide resources to sustain
community agency participation in department planning processes; train and educate community leaders.
Children and Youth with Special Health Needs family work groups, advisory groups, identifying concerns and
providing ideas for policy and program changes, working alongside public systems and leadership.
Advocacy groups identify key concerns for accessing health resources for marginalized communities. Sponsor
research on health needs for communities not identified in general health information, such as lesbian, gay,
bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ).
Promote meaningful parent partnerships in program and policy development, implementation and evaluation, and
decision-making at all levels.
Increase families’ confidence and ability to advocate for their children
Recruit and compensate parents/youth to support their participation with decision-making bodies that influence
children and youth with special health needs.
Identify best practices for engaging parents for participation at all levels in the health care system.
Community/population healing from historic trauma
Objective: Increase understanding of the effect and prevalence of historical and collective trauma and its effect upon the
overall health and wellbeing of different communities.
Measurements/outcomes regarding promoting community or population healing from historic trauma.
•
•
Number of public health or health providers completing training on understanding historic and collective trauma.
Percent of community or cultural based organizations participating in trauma training and in healing initiatives or
activities.
Examples of strategies and practices to support community or population healing from historic trauma:
•
•
•
•
•
Repair broken connections with others, self-image, values and beliefs through shared activities.
Provide trauma-informed care training to providers.
Educate community to understand trauma and stressors; focus on renewal of hope, positive self-image and beliefs,
reaffirming one’s place in the human community – may include individual counseling or therapy, spiritual help,
or group or entire community gatherings.
Arts series promoting community dialogue regarding social change.
Community led collaboration efforts, bringing together funders, nonprofits, community members and leaders to
actively address concerns.
Page 4
6/7/2016
Community Connectedness was or is an identified priority, focus, or goal of all of these reports, plans, and
organizations:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Maternal and Child Health Assessment Inquiry Feedback – MDH
2010 Title V National Performance Measure
2010 Title V State Performance Measure
2015 Title V National Performance Measure
Adolescent Health Action Plan – MN
Advancing Health Equity Report – MDH
CDC Healthy People 2020
Children’s Defense Fund – MN
Community Health Boards – MN
Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative – MDH
Healthy MN 2020: Statewide Health Improvement Framework
Hospital Community Health Needs Assessments – MN
Injury & Violence Prevention – MDH
ISAIAH’s Campaign Priorities
MN Children & Youth With Special Health Needs Strategic Plan 2013-2018
MN Council of Health Plans
MN Statewide Health Assessment 2012 – MDH
Prenatal to Three Plan
Rainbow Health Initiative
Rural Health Advisory Community – MN
For more information about the 2015 Maternal and Child Health Assessment, or about the Title V Block Grant, please
visit the Minnesota Department of Health webpage at http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/cfh/na/ .
On the data charts above, all races are non-Hispanic ethnicity.
PO Box 64882, St. Paul, MN 55164-0882
651-201-3760
[email protected]
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/cfh/na/MCHNeedsAssessment.html
Page 5
6/7/2016