June 1, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Public Health (SOPH) has won a $200,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to evaluate and work to strengthen public-health services for American Indian and Alaskan Native mothers and children.
The project will identify interagency collaborations between state agencies and the American Indian and Alaskan Native health care system, with the goal of assessing and expanding best practices for mothers, children and adolescents.
"Among the questions we hope to address is a focus on interorganizational collaborations, and the degree to which that works in ways that benefit this particular mother and child population," says Beverly Mulvihill, Ph.D., of the SOPH Department of Health Care Organization and Policy and co-lead investigator on the project.
States receive federal funds to provide health services to women of child-bearing age, new mothers, infants and other youth through the Title V provision of the Social Security Act. Also, many tribal areas and Alaskan Native communities are served by the Indian Health Service, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as well as other agencies.
Collaborations and cross-departmental work are seen as effective ways to improve the delivery of public-health programs, says Andrew Rucks, Ph.D., also of the SOPH Department of Health Care Organization and Policy and the other co-lead investigator on the project.
"Ultimately, we hope agencies, departments and ministers of health across the globe can look at our results and learn to develop partnerships and strategies that give people from different cultures the opportunities to be healthy, happy children, adults and caregivers," Rucks says.
The project involves assessing the models of service, organizational structures and collaborations between the American Indian and Alaskan Native health care system and the Title V system of care. Investigators will focus on the strengths and weaknesses of these collaborations, and analyze any related differences in maternal and child health.
The project is a partnership with the UAB School of Public Health, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs and National Indian Health Board. The grant is part of a larger project co-managed by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, National Network of Public Health Institutes and AcademyHealth to expand the evidence base for effective public-health policy and practice by building the field of public health services and systems research.
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing the United States. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the foundation works to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change.
About the UAB School of Public Health
The School of Public Health is a community of scholars and professionals working and teaching in varied arenas of public health with the goal of fostering research and best practices crucial to the health of our nation and its peoples. The school offers more than 20 areas of study and manages dozens of research and community-service centers.