By the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health

The Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health (the “Policy Center”) is announcing the launch of a new pilot project titled, “Improving Maternal Mental Health by Embedding Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Obstetric Settings.”

Maternal mental health disorders are among the most common complications of pregnancy. Yet, these disorders often go undiagnosed and untreated due to various barriers, including a lack of capacity and incentive among obstetric providers to implement comprehensive screening and treatment protocols. As a result, many mothers and their families suffer unnecessarily, facing increased risks of preterm birth, maternal morbidity, and mortality.

In partnership with CommonSpirit Health and The Measurement Group, this two-year pilot aims to study whether embedding CHWs in Ob/Gyn clinics can adequately build the office’s capacity to screen for maternal mental health (MMH) disorders, provide brief intervention, and care coordination. CHWs are well positioned to offer informed and culturally competent screening, engagement, and connections to community resources. CHW services were recently made reimbursable under the California Medicaid program (Medi-Cal). The pilot will not only track screening rates and patient outcomes, but also billing and clam payment results.

Key elements of the pilot program include:

Testing and Documentation: We will work closely with participating OB clinics to test the feasibility and sustainability of integrating CHWs into their workforce and understand barriers and opportunities that CHWs may face in becoming a core component of an obstetric provider clinic. Through detailed guides and toolkits, we will document lessons learned from both a clinical and policy perspective and provide replicable models for clinics across the United States.

Measuring Impact: We will track and evaluate the program's impact through specific metrics, including increased screening rates, treatment uptake, symptom improvement, satisfaction levels, reductions in disparities among communities of color, as well as billing and reimbursement results.

National Dissemination: Project findings, lessons learned, and guides will be shared through webinars and publications.

The Policy Center will report on progress with various presentations throughout the pilot.

Funding for this project is made possible through generous support from the Cigna Foundation, California Health Care Foundation, Flourish Impact Fund, and the Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund.