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Dona L. Dei, RN/MSN, National Capital Area Chapter, March of Dimes, 2700 S. Quincy Street, Suite 220, Arlington, VA 22206, 7038240111, ddei@marchofdimes.com and Maria Gomez, MSN, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Health, 2333 Ontario Rd., NW, Washington, DC 20009.
In 1998, only 72% of pregnant women in the District of Columbia received early prenatal care. The infant mortality rate was 12.5 per 1000 live births, higher than any of the 50 states. This data supported the need for increasing access to early and adequate prenatal care.
In an effort to address this need, the March of Dimes developed the Mama & Baby Bus (MBB) project to reduce some of the barriers to care for women at risk for poor pregnancy outcomes. Initiated in 1999, the MBB is a 5-year pilot project to improve maternal child health care in wards 1,2,4, and 5 in Washington, D.C. Services are provided on a 30-foot mobile prenatal/dental unit in partnership with Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Health Care, Inc. and the community. Guidance for the project comes form the MBB Advisory Council, which consists of the March of Dimes, Mary’s Center, community leaders and members from the catchment area. The MBB Advisory Council meets quarterly and is divided into three subcommittees (Clinical, Operations, Marketing).
The steps used to actively involve community members in planning and delivering services include:
1. Using members of the community to introduce the project to each ward, 2. Defining the roles of the stakeholders: Community members, the March of Dimes and Mary’s Center, 3. Gathering community input on opportunities such as potential service sites and community events, 4. Maintaining a regular service delivery schedule so clients know when and where to access services and 5. Involving the community in project evaluation.
The DC Department of Health and several other mobile Maternal and Child Health and Pediatric units have used the project as a model of community involvement. The success of the project stems from recognizing the essential role that the community plays in the planning process and delivery of services.
The presentation will include findings from the project evaluation that includes focus groups to determine client satisfaction and a telephone survey about the quality of the mobile services in addition to data on utilization of services and client demographics.
Learning Objectives: At the end of this poster presentation, the learner will be able to
Keywords: Access to Care,
Related Web page: www.marchofdimes.com/metroDC
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.