Tackling equity in pediatric care is no small task. Funding shortfalls, lack of staff buy-in, logistical hurdles, and other challenges can often threaten efforts to address identified inequities.
At a webinar on October 19, UHF’s PEDS Learning Network highlighted two projects that successfully overcame these and other obstacles to address disparities in their pediatric facilities. The projects, led by graduates of UHF’s PEDS Learning Network fellowship program, offer key insights into what strategies can lead to an effective practice transformation.
In one project, PEDS fellow Beija Vasquez, MSW, led an increase in education and access to pediatric dental care after leadership at the Open Door Family Medical Center noticed families did not follow up with their pediatric dental visits and often did not understand the importance of caring for their child’s “baby teeth.” Ms. Vasquez and other staff at Open Door's Ossining site created a new workflow that would sign families up for a check-up with their dental department the same day as their pediatric visit. Plus, families received goody bags with information on oral health, age-appropriate toothbrushes, and rattles or “stuffies” that provide emotional comfort needed during the dental exam.
“This foundation of having a good experience [at the dentist] can actually lead to lifelong, positive oral health,” Open Door’s Senior Director of Behavioral Health, Shonny Capodilupo, LCSW, told webinar participants.
The project connected more than 270 children under age 3 to oral health care and successfully treated 97 percent of those patients with preventive fluoride varnish. The project’s approach has since expanded to all dental health sites in the Open Door network, which serves the most densely populated and high-need areas of the Mid-Hudson region.
The second project featured at the PEDS Learning Network webinar was led by Karina Vattana, MD, FAAP, medical director at Trillium Health’s Pathway Pediatrics in Rochester. Recognizing equity gaps in breast/chest feeding initiation—exacerbated by shorter hospital stays due to the pandemic—Dr. Vattana spearheaded the opening of a free, drop-in, breast/chest feeding support group known as “Baby Café" at her clinic.
Baby Cafés, of which there will now be four in Rochester, target ZIP codes with low breast-feeding initiation rates and low socioeconomic status, Dr. Vattana said. The Pathway Pediatrics Baby Café will also help reach a more diverse group of parents given that it is one of two facilities in Rochester that specializes in LGBTQ+ care and gender-affirming care in pediatrics.
“Not only are we looking at race and socioeconomic status, but we’re also looking at sexual orientation and gender diversity,” Dr. Vattana said.
The October 19 webinar, “Equity Centered Strategies to Improve Pediatric Primary Care: How to Initiate Practice Transformation,” is part of a series hosted by the PEDS Learning Network. In addition to the quarterly webinar series, the statewide PEDS Network, supported by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation, managed an online resource center and led a fellowship program that nurtures the next generation of clinical leaders—all with the goal of improving early childhood development and reducing disparities in pediatric primary care.
Click below for a video of the webinar.