Evaluation Protocol to Assess Maternal and Child Health Outcomes Using Administrative Data: A Community Health Worker Home Visiting Program

Emerging evidence suggests community health workers (CHWs) delivering preventive maternal and child health (MCH) interventions through home visits improve several important health outcomes, including:

• Initiation of prenatal care
• Healthy birth weight
• Uptake of childhood immunizations

Samantha Sabo, DrPH, MPH, an associate professor in the Department of Health Sciences and the Center for Health Equity Research (CHER); Kelly McCue, MPH, CHER senior research coordinator; Matthew Butler, PhD, Institute of Public Service and Ethics, Brigham Young University; Patrick Wightman, PhD, MPP, director of the Center for Population, Science and Discovery, University of Arizona; and Sara Rumann, MA, manager of Arizona Health Start and Pregnancy Wellness, Arizona Department of Health Services, published the Health Start Program Evaluation Impact Report, 2006–2016 detailing the impact of the CHW program on the health of mothers, infants, and young children.

The Arizona Health Start is a behavioral-based home visiting intervention, which uses CHWs to improve MCH outcomes through health education, referral support, and advocacy services for at-risk pregnant and postpartum women with children up to 2 years of age.

The study compared records from 7,212 women enrolled in Health Start to 53,948 women not enrolled in the program from 2006 to 2016. Researchers assessed the program’s effect on low birthweight and preterm birth outcomes, prenatal care attendance, and child immunizations for Health Start participants.

2021 Health Start Program Evaluation Impact Report, 2006-2016

Read the 2021 Health Start Program Evaluation Impact Report, 2006-2016 (Published December 1, 2021)

 

BMJ Open Publication

The researchers published “Evaluation Protocol to Assess Maternal and Child Health Outcomes Using Administrative Data: a Community Health Worker Home Visiting Programme” in the BMJ Open medical Journal on Dec. 10, 2019, using data from the Arizona Health Start Program.

The study evaluated Health Start Program administrative data from 2006 to 2015, equaling 15,576 enrollees.

In their study, they tested their central hypothesis that mothers and children exposed to preventative maternal and child health interventions through CHW home visits experience positive health outcomes in:

• Newborn health
• Maternal health and healthcare utilization
• Child health and development

For more information, read Evaluation Protocol to Assess Maternal and Child Health Outcomes Using Administrative Data: A Community Health Worker Home Visiting Programme.