In collaboration with the Arizona Department of Health Services, a team of faculty and students from the college produced a ‘Title V Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment’ for Arizona, a qualitative study that includes voices from diverse families, youth, and LGBTQ+ communities.
A team of faculty and students from Zuckerman College of Public Health, Department of Health Promotion Sciences, have been working with Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) since March 2019 on a Title V Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Needs Assessment Report for Arizona that will help guide federal block grant healthcare funds for mothers and children in need. The report was finalized this spring 2021, and a new supplemental study has just been authorized.
Dr. Priscilla Magrath, Project Director
Title V is a federal program that focuses on improving the health of all mothers and children. In 1981 a Title V block grant was created to serve three populations: pregnant women and infants, children, and children with special health care needs (CSHCN). The grants are managed by the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). Every five years, state Title V MCH agencies are required to conduct comprehensive needs assessments to identify state maternal and child health needs and prioritize them for Title V block grant funding. The state agency responsible for Title V in Arizona is the Arizona Department of Health Services.
The Zuckerman College of Public Health team included that produced the MCH needs assessment report includes Principal Investigator (PI) John Ehiri, PhD, MPH, MSc, and Co-Investigators Priscilla Magrath, PhD (Project Director), Martha Monroy, MA, Velia Leybas Nuno, PhD, MSW, and Nicole Yuan, PhD, MPH. Additionally, public health students Lisa Balland, Annette Cortes, Mariana Felix, Paula Garcia, Briana Hernandez, Sophia Hernandez, Nidal Kram, Abidemi Okechukwu, Kelly Palmer, John Porter and Abby Welter contributed. The qualitative study offered communities across the state the opportunity to provide input, including Youth, African American, Latino, Refugee, and LGBTQ+ populations, as well as families of children with special health care needs. The main report can be found on the ADHS website along with other components of the comprehensive needs assessment:
https://azdhs.gov/prevention/womens-childrens-health/reports-fact-sheets/index.php#title-v
ADHS designed a comprehensive needs assessment including several components. These included: an analysis of trend data on Maternal and Child Health Indicators in Arizona; an Online Public Survey; an Assessment of the Capacity of Arizona Department of Health Services to implement Title V; Focus Groups with under-served communities; a Tribal Needs Assessment; Community Forums; and a Priority Setting exercise done by ADHS. A Steering Committee was set up to guide and oversee the process. University of Arizona was contracted to carry out the focus groups and community forums components in collaboration with ADHS and the Steering Committee. The final needs assessment report integrated findings from all components.
“This Maternal and Child Health Needs Assessment Report shows the depth of our team’s expertise in this public health field, and it builds on our existing network of relationships among diverse communities, both urban and rural, in Arizona,” says Dr. Ehiri, “The report will guide healthcare funding that will provide vital services for mothers, infants, and children throughout the state. This will benefit many lives.”
The MCH Report was delivered to ADHS in April 2021. Last week, on August 5, 2021, a supplemental contract was finalized between ADHS and UArizona for a needs assessment focused on access to peri-natal care for African American mothers and mothers who live in remote rural Arizona. Dr. John Ehiri is working with Dr. Priscilla Magrath and graduate students Abidemi Okechukwu and Sarah Yeo to complete this supplementary study.
“I’m so proud of Dr. Ehiri and Dr. Magrath and our team that worked on this MCH report! This is vital information that will enable us to better serve the diverse families of Arizona,” said Iman Hakim, MD, dean of the Zuckerman College of Public Health, “And in the spring we will begin to offer a Maternal and Child Health Graduate Certificate that will help train the next generation for this important work.”
