Cross-Program Collaboration to Advance Preconception Health in Kansas
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To our Kansas community members in need of services, it doesn’t matter what program those services fall under: Title X Family Planning, Maternal Child Health, WIC, or home visiting. What matters is that they are connected to the right support at the right time and receive follow-up support.Lauren Alexander, Women/Maternal Health Consultant, KDHE
To ensure all MCH programs have access to best practices and resources that support them in serving the diverse needs of Kansans, KDHE offers free monthly virtual trainings to professionals from all local MCH programs, including Title X; Teen Pregnancy Targeted Case Management; Pregnancy Maintenance Initiative; Maternal and Child Health; Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting; Early Childhood Developmental Services; Kansas Perinatal Quality Collaborative; and Special Healthcare Needs. These sessions are also opportunities for programs to share community initiatives and strengthen their networks.
In February, KDHE’s monthly training focused on strengthening preconception health services as part of Preconception Health Awareness Month. More than 80 people from at least eight different programs attended. The webinar featured Jacki Witt, Program Director of the National Clinical Training Center for Family Planning, and covered topics including the Quality Family Planning (QFP) recommendations for preconception care, providing client-centered services, and planning for quality improvement.
The webinar also oriented attendees to the RHNTC’s Preconception Health Toolkit, which is designed to help programs:
- Assess their preconception health services
- Expand opportunities to engage staff in preconception health interventions
- Routinely conduct high-quality preconception health assessments
- Strengthen the quality and responsiveness of preconception health services
- Collaborate with community partners to improve preconception health
“We found the toolkit to be a really terrific resource and want all providers across Kansas to have this valuable information,” said Kelsee Torrez, KDHE Behavioral Health Consultant.
Title X projects looking to strengthen preconception care can learn how to use the Preconception Health Toolkit in the RHNTC’s Advancing Preconception Health Services Webinar recording and can check out the Putting the QFP Into Practice Toolkit. Those interested in cross-program collaboration may benefit from the RHNTC’s System Support Mapping tool.