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M D Peoples-Sheps

Publications and source records attributed to M D Peoples-Sheps.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Sharing information and experiences about maternal and child health data sets through the World Wide Web.

Maternal and child health programs face increasing requirements to collect, analyze, and disseminate information on current health status and needs of population groups. Data sets vary according to data elements. Population groups, organizational and agency boundaries, and other situation-specific characteristics. Until recently, the major venue for sharing information about various dimensions of data sets has been informal, often word-of-mouth, communications. The World Wide Web provides an opportunity to replace these slow and incomplete information exchanges with instant and comprehensive ones. This article outlines the development of a web site that includes descriptive information about 12 MCH data sets.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

Model indicators for maternal and child health: an overview of process, product, and applications.

OBJECTIVES: Further improvements in the health of mothers and children depend, in part, on collecting, analyzing, and interpreting relevant data correctly. Despite consistent efforts to improve data capacity and use during the past two decades, the need persists for a model set of maternal and child health (MCH) indicators to guide decisions about health conditions to be monitored, elements to be included in data sets, and definitions of measures. This article describes development, key characteristics, and major applications of a set of MCH Model Indicators (MCH MI) created to address these needs. METHODS: A conceptual model with five domains was created to organize and guide development of the indicators. The development process included systematic specification of concepts, formulas, age/gender groups, and data sources, as well as recommendations for frequency of surveillance. Information sources included published reports and expert opinion. RESULTS: There are 217 indicators distributed across domains as follows: 75 health status, 9 contextual characteristics, 16 health systems capacity and adequacy, 49 risk/protective status, and 68 health and related services. Twenty of the indicators, all of them in the health status domain, are recommended for routine surveillance. CONCLUSIONS: The indicators can be used to identify and address MCH problems, to complement and expand other sets of MCH indicators, to serve as standards for consistent definitions, to provide guidance for creation and revision of MCH and related data bases, and to provide a foundation for the development of related sets of indicators. Some of the indicators require further development, but the total MCH MI package constitutes a solid foundation for subsequent work, as well as for ongoing modifications that are essential if the Model Indicators are to remain responsive to MCH needs.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

Southeastern Title V program staff perceptions of state-level maternal and child health assessment skills.

OBJECTIVES: Since the publication of the Future of Public Health, a high priority has been placed on the development of the assessment capacity in public health programs. METHOD: Key informant interviews were conducted by telephone with selected program personnel of state Maternal and Child Health and Children with Special Health Care Needs programs in ten southeastern states to determine perceived deficiencies in skills needed to carry out assessments. RESULTS: We found that professional staff perceived that several fundamental assessment skills were available in their units, including collecting secondary data, and creating interagency groups and frameworks for assessment. In contrast, program staff perceived that their units did not have adequate skills to carry out many other critical assessment tasks, including the ability to analyze data using descriptive statistics. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support the argument that more funds and staff resources must be devoted to the development of analytic skills, and to ensuring that consistent application of these skills is reinforced.

Child↗
PubMed1996

Impact of a social support program on teenage prenatal care use and pregnancy outcomes.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated the impact of a resource mothers program (RMP) on prenatal care use, low birth weight (LBW), and preterm birth (PTB). The intervention used paraprofessional women to provide social support to pregnant teenagers through home visiting. METHODS: Data were obtained by linking RMP, health department, and birth certificate data. Outcomes for primiparous teenagers were compared across two main study groups: a RMP group (n = 1,901) and a comparison group from counties in which the program was not offered (n = 4,613). Multiple logistic regression was used to estimate the effects of program participation with simultaneous adjustment for age, race, marital status, and previous pregnancies. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. RESULTS: Resource mothers program teenagers were more likely to initiate prenatal care early (OR = 1.48; CI = 1.32-1.66) and to receive adequate prenatal care (OR = 1.58; CI = 1.40-1.78) than teenagers in the other counties. The program had no significant effect on LBW, but unmarried teenagers in the RMP group were less likely to have a PTB than unmarried teenagers in the other counties with an OR of 0.81 (CI = 0.70-0.95). These findings were supported by analyses using a second comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: Given that PTB contributes heavily to infant mortality, the program's effect on PTB is promising.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Content of prenatal care during the initial workup.

OBJECTIVE: In its landmark document Caring for Our Future: The Content of Prenatal Care, the Public Health Service Expert Panel on the Content of Prenatal Care presented a framework for refocusing prenatal care in the 1990s. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which the panel's recommendations for preconceptional care and for the content of the initial prenatal workup were followed 3 years after they were issued. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective review of the prenatal records of 147 patients in Durham and Chatham counties, North Carolina, was conducted. Providers were selected at random, and their first 10 new prenatal patients were enrolled in the study. Data were analyzed descriptively to characterize patterns in content of care and, with multiple logistic regression analysis, to determine whether there were relationships between selected maternal characteristics and receipt of selected components of care. RESULTS: Only 11% of the patients had one or more preconceptional visits. During the initial prenatal workup risk assessment through history taking and physical examination was virtually complete, whereas documentation of laboratory tests varied. Only about half the population received routine counseling on pregnancy and health behaviors. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed a consistent association between initiating prenatal care early in pregnancy and receipt of most laboratory tests. No other consistent relationships were found. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that adherence to such long-standing prenatal care practices as physical examination, history taking, and some laboratory tests was high. But the components of prenatal care recommended by the expert panel to ensure behavioral risk assessments and health promotion and education early in pregnancy were provided at lower and more variable rates. Use of preconceptional care was also low. Further research into the use and content of care before and during pregnancy is required to understand variations in practice patterns and levels of adherence to recommendations on the content of care.

Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗
PubMed1991

Prenatal records: a national survey of content.

The uses of prenatal records extend well beyond management of patient care. They are also vehicles for communication, quality assurance, financial compensation, and legal documentation. To serve each of these functions, records should be systematic and detailed. This nationwide study was conducted to assess the extent to which prenatal records in current use include sufficient detail to serve these functions. A random sample of 2746 physicians who listed obstetrics and gynecology, obstetrics, or maternal-fetal medicine as a primary or secondary specialty in the American Medical Association file were contacted by mail and were requested to submit a blank copy of their prenatal records. The records of 969 respondents were examined for the presence or absence of 53 items that corresponded to the five functions identified above. The items of interest were present in 1% to 98% of the records. More than 90% included items of traditional medical-obstetric significance. The percentages of records with items of more contemporary relevance (e.g., cigarette smoking, risk-assessment checklists, psychological stress) were found in lower percentages of the records. Stratified and logistic regression analyses revealed that the most systematic and detailed records were commercially available, were used by physicians in hospital and government program-based practices, and were used by physicians who had completed medical school less than or equal to 15 years before the survey. The findings suggest that physicians who do not use commercially available forms or those who are in private or health maintenance organization practice or have been practicing for more than 15 years should reconsider their prenatal records in light of the functions they will serve in the 1990s and beyond.

Communication↗
PubMed1991

Characteristics of maternal employment during pregnancy: effects on low birthweight.

BACKGROUND: Although maternal employment is considered a risk factor for low birthweight (LBW), the manner in which employment might affect birthweight is poorly understood. In this analysis, selected characteristics of employment during pregnancy were examined for effects on pregnancy outcomes. METHODS: Work characteristics included the number of hours per week, physical activities, and environmental conditions. The outcomes of interest were fetal growth retardation (less than 2500 grams at term) and preterm delivery (less than 37 weeks). The study population consisted of 2711 non-Black, married mothers who participated in the 1980 National Natality Survey (NNS). The NNS data were merged with data from the 1977 revision of The Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT) from which measures of occupational physical activities and environmental exposures were obtained. Logistic regression was used in the analysis. RESULTS: Those who worked 40 or more hours per week were more likely than women who worked fewer hours to have a low birthweight delivery at greater than or equal to 37 weeks. No physical or environmental characterics of work were associated with low birthweight or preterm delivery. CONCLUSIONS: Non-Black married American women may face a risk of delivering low-birthweight babies at or near term only if they work 40 or more hours each week. However, the lack of risk associated with other characteristics of work may be a function of measurement error in the DOT data source or of low levels of exposure in the analysis population.

Adult↗
PubMed1989

Home visiting and prenatal care: a survey of practical wisdom.

Public health nurses and other professional and paraprofessional workers have engaged in prenatal home visiting for many decades. Yet, the extent to which this and other prenatal interventions influence maternal behavior is largely unknown. This study was undertaken to collect and categorize perceptions of experts in the organization and delivery of prenatal care about the value of selected strategies for encouraging participation in care, for education, and for changing behavior, with special emphasis on home visiting. The survey sample consisted of 151 experts who were identified by directors of maternal and child health programs in 48 of the 50 states. One hundred eighteen of the experts, almost half of whom were nurses, responded to the survey. The findings suggest important discrepancies between respondents' perceptions about the effectiveness of some prenatal strategies and the actual extent of their use in practice. In addition, the results raise questions about the appropriate mix of type of home visitor and purpose of visit. These questions should form the basis for subsequent investigations.

Counseling↗
PubMed1988

Why we know so little about prenatal care nationwide: an assessment of required methodology.

Policymakers, advocates, providers, recipients, and health services researchers all would agree that too little is known about the nature and effects of specific components of prenatal care. In the process of designing a national, longitudinal study of pregnancy and childbirth, we surfaced some methodological dilemmas that help to explain why so little is known. This article explores two of the major problems: (1) selecting a valid scientific sample of pregnant women and (2) collecting data from providers and women. From this analysis, seven methodological questions, which should be investigated through empirical field studies, are identified. Those field studies are essential if future research into the content of prenatal care is to achieve an acceptable level of methodological rigor.

Data Collection↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Problems in estimating the number of women in need of subsidized prenatal care.

For effective allocation of resources, public program planners need to know how many women require subsidized prenatal care and where they are located. Because sample surveys are expensive, indirect methods of estimation using secondary data sources are frequently used to arrive at quick annual estimates. Census data on poverty are often incorporated into such methods, but out study of the eight southeast States in Federal Region IV shows that available census data severely underestimate the proportion of pregnant women who are poor. Updated poverty data from the 1990 census will not solve this problem of underestimation. Alternative methods for estimating the number of women in need of subsidized prenatal care services, for measuring unmet need, and for doing estimates on the county level are presented and evaluated. Such considerations are especially important, given the new Title V block grant reporting requirements.

Female↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The management and use of data on maternal and child health and crippled children: a survey.

With the advent of the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant, both maternal and child health programs and crippled children's (CC) programs at the State level have assumed greater responsibility for identifying populations in need, planning appropriate services for them, and monitoring progress toward program objectives. To determine the capabilities of eight Southeastern States to produce and apply the data necessary to accomplish those tasks, a survey of data systems available to, and used by, perinatal and CC programs in the Southeast was undertaken. Findings of the survey suggested that the data available to perinatal programs were more useful for planning and evaluation than those available to CC programs, primarily due to the vital statistics data systems in each State. The major data management needs of the region include (a) measuring the health status of populations served by public perinatal programs, (b) measuring services received by population groups considered in need of public perinatal care, (c) estimating the incidence and prevalence of handicapping conditions among children, and (d) measuring the outcomes of CC programs. If these shortcomings are addressed, the programs will be in better positions for effective planning and evaluation. To improve data management and utilization capabilities, the programs may need to engage technical assistance and consultation from sources outside their service-oriented agencies.

Child↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Translating research into MCH service: comparison of a pilot project and a large-scale resource mothers program.

This study examines the process and effect of translating a pilot research project into a large-scale service program. In a pilot resource mothers program for pregnant teenagers, participants had fewer low birth weight infants than teenagers in the comparison group. In the corresponding large-scale service program, a similarly positive effect on low birth weight was not seen. In an effort to understand how these differences occurred, the evaluation methodologies and key characteristics that describe the background, infrastructure, components, and service providers of the two projects were compared. Important differences between the pilot project and the service program were seen in funding stability, diversity of staff, community versus health department ownership of the program, caseloads, and levels of training and supervision. It seems probable that these differences brought about changes in the intensity and character of the intervention from the pilot to the service program, leading to a reduction of the intervention's efficacy in reducing the number of low birth weight infants. The implications of these findings for researchers and program planners are discussed.

Adolescent↗