JSU- Mississippi Delta Research Center of Excellence for Maternal Health

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PROJECT SUMMARY: Research Project 2 - Empowering Women for Postpartum Care and Reproductive Health in the Mississippi Delta Maternal mortality and morbidity remain unacceptably high across the United States, and particularly in the Mississippi Delta, with Black women experiencing an elevated and unjust risk of loss of life and health. Evidence supports that engagement in healthcare across the pre- and postpartum continuum can reduce adverse maternal outcomes. However, barriers to engagement in maternal healthcare persist in the Mississippi Delta, despite many attempts to intervene. Legacies and current practices of structural and interpersonal racism have led to distrust of health advocates and healthcare providers among Black women and their families. Poverty, transportation, lack of health insurance, poor health literacy, and limited availability of healthcare also contribute to health inequities. To improve access to care and quality of healthcare services, these structural and interpersonal barriers must be acknowledged and addressed in a comprehensive manner. In this research project, we propose a multisectoral patient-clinical linkage intervention to increase comprehension, trust, and engagement in postpartum healthcare among parents in the Mississippi Delta, with a specific focus on Black women, their families, and their communities. The intervention will directly address structural and interpersonal barriers to engagement in postpartum healthcare through (a) improving health literacy and communication skills among community health workers and licensed clinicians (focusing on skills, written text and oral communication, tasks and activities for services utilization, and the environment for provision of health services); (b) community health worker care coordination to facilitate pre- and postpartum visits; and (c) employing strategies to increase insurance utilization postpartum and defray the costs of attending care. These interconnected research activities aim to reduce structural and interpersonal barriers to healthcare engagement, thereby empowering postpartum women to seek, advocate for, and receive the healthcare they deserve. This research project will implement and evaluate the proposed intervention through the following aims: (1) refine and implement the community-based patient-clinical linkage intervention and evaluate its effectiveness in increasing maternal health engagement in medical care; (2) evaluate the effectiveness of the community-based patient-clinical linkage intervention in improving health literacy and increasing trust; and (3) evaluate the effectiveness of the community-based patient-clinical linkage intervention in improving reproductive autonomy among postpartum parents in the Mississippi Delta. By providing concrete support to access information and care, we will connect parents at high risk for adverse maternal outcomes to quality preventive services. Ultimately, this research project will support the overall mission of the JSU- Mississippi Delta Research Center of Excellence for Maternal Health to empower women through increased trust and health literacy while reducing maternal morbidity and mortality in partnership with the Mississippi Delta community.