Improve Perinatal Access, Coordination, and Treatment for Behavioral Health (IMPACT BH)
In this page you will find:
- The State of Perinatal Behavioral Health
- How We’re Addressing the Crisis
- Program Impact
- Partners
The State of Perinatal Behavioral Health:
Colorado is in the midst of a perinatal behavioral health crisis where suicide and unintentional overdose are the leading causes of maternal mortality during pregnancy and through the first year postpartum. Nearly 80% of these deaths are preventable. In Colorado, pregnant and postpartum people who die are more likely to:
- Identify as someone who is a person of color, lives in a rural community, or receives government-provided services;
- Have limited access to healthcare and food, unstable housing, and poor health literacy; and
- Struggle with mental health, substance use, or intimate partner violence.
Other contributing factors include: fragmented care, stigma surrounding mental health, obstacles to accessing care, systemic inequities and racial biases. In addition, chronic stress and maternal morbidity (pregnancy and birth-related health problems) lead to adverse birth outcomes such as maternal mortality, infant mortality, preterm birth, and low birth weight.
Research shows that nearly 1 in 10 people who had a live birth in Colorado reported experiencing postpartum depressive symptoms. Yet, postpartum care, including depression screenings, is inconsistent throughout the state. Inadequate prenatal care and disparities affecting perinatal health outcomes are inseparable from infant health outcomes. In 2019, 305 infants died before reaching their first birthday, and in 2020, 1 in 11 infants were preterm, requiring prolonged hospitalization and parental separation. Guidelines related to parental presence, support, and integration into the medical and developmental care of these infants are lacking in clinical settings.
How We’re Addressing the Crisis:
IMPACT BH brings together hospitals, primary healthcare services, and community-based organizations as active collaborators and partners in providing wrap-around support and care navigation to pregnant and postpartum people and their families.
Care navigators will:
- Link the care team and patient to critical information and support across prenatal, hospital, and postpartum care; and
- Help increase identification, diagnosis, referral, and treatment for perinatal behavioral health needs
CPCQC’s role is to facilitate the program, engage cross-sector partners, assess community needs and resources, prioritize and plan, implement strategies to enhance healthcare delivery and community-based services through existing Quality Improvement (QI) projects, evaluate outcomes, and transition to sustainability. The program is intended to focus on more than just hospital improvement by creating an integrated delivery system that brings together hospitals, community-based healthcare services, and patients as active partners in perinatal and postpartum care.
We are advancing the traditional model that focuses solely on hospital improvement to create an integrated delivery system that supports the whole patient through access to hospital- and community-based care and treatment, wrap-around support services, individualized care coordination, and increased social and peer support.
How We’re Supporting Patients:
See how we’re supporting the Patient Journey with Care Navigator Support. The care navigator model aims to provide patients with a go-to partner who listens and helps connect patient and family with whatever resources, support and information they might need.
Program Impact:
Launching in Garfield, Pitkin, Eagle and Summit counties, IMPACT BH is led by CPCQC in partnership with University of Colorado Practice Innovation Program, Illuminate CO, and Stader Opioid Consultants.
Improved program outcomes to include:
- Increase behavioral health screening, referrals, and follow-up for pregnant and postpartum individuals
- Increase in county-wide utilization of medical, behavioral health, and community services by pregnant and postpartum individuals and their families
- Increase access to Naloxone and medication for opioid use disorder for pregnant and postpartum individuals
- Improve interactions and relationships among care teams and pregnant and postpartum individuals and their families
Partners:
Led by CPCQC in partnership with University of Colorado Practice Innovation Program, Illuminate CO, and Stader Opioid Consultants.
Funded by Colorado Department of Human Services Behavioral Health Administration and Zoma Foundation.
