Inventory of Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for Healthy Start Programs
Evidence-based practices include actions, activities, strategies, or approaches that improve the health of women, before, during, and after pregnancy in order to improve birth outcomes and give infants up to age two years a healthy start. Also included in the collection are informational materials and tools that make it easier to implement evidence-based practices. To search by title, use the main search box located at the top of this page.
In February 2019, ACIP updated its immunization guidelines for children and adolescents. The revised guidelines are available in two newly redesigned charts, one for providers and one for parents. They include new or revised recommendations for hepatitis A vaccine (HepA), hepatitis B vaccine (Hep B), influenza vaccine, and tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid, and acellular pertussis vaccine (Tdap), as well as clarification of the recommendations for inactivated poliovirus vaccines (IPV).
Topics:
Immunization
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
SAMHSA’s new Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP), TIP 61, provides practical guidance on Native American history, historical trauma, and critical cultural perspectives for behavioral health work with American Indian and Alaska Native clients. It discusses the demographics, social challenges, and behavioral health concerns of Native Americans and highlights the importance of providers’ cultural awareness, cultural competence, and culture-specific knowledge. Specific topic areas include workforce development strategies, program and professional development considerations, and culturally responsive policies and procedures.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Health Equity Mental Health
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Boston Basics Campaign is inspired by the fact that 80% of brain growth happens in the first three years of life. During this period, skill gaps between socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic groups become clearly apparent, but this does not need to be. Everyday interactions between children, their parents, and other caregivers provide abundant opportunities to give children from every background a more equal start in life. The Basics are five, fun, simple, and powerful ways that every family can give every child a strong start beginning from birth: 1) maximize love, manage stress, 2) talk, sing and point, 3) count, group and compare, 4) explore through movement and play, and 5) read and discuss stories. The Basics Community Toolkit provides multi-media resources that healthcare and community-based organizations can use to engage and support parents and other caregivers in practicing these basics.The Boston Basics website and materials are also available in Spanish.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Reading to Child Daily
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This toolkit is a practical, hands-on resource designed to promote culturally effective services for children and families. It consists of nine brief “chapters” addressing health literacy and cultural differences in areas such as health beliefs and practices, infant care and feeding, the role of women, and child behavior and discipline. Each of the brief narratives is accompanied by a list of resources, including links to supplemental reading, patient education materials in multiple languages, checklists, assessments, and more.
Topics:
Health Literacy Nutrition Parenting Education Safe Sleep Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Safe Sleep Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This toolkit presents a compilation of resources that highlight the challenges and key issues associated with launching and sustaining a successful fatherhood program. It covers topics such as: building an effective fatherhood program,effectively engaging fathers, cultivating community partners, recruiting and training staff, serving fathers with specific barriers, and promoting sustainability. The toolkit provides tips and suggestions from experienced practitioners, activities for use with fathers in one-to-one or group sessions, tools from model programs to use and share with fathers, and other helpful resources.
Topics:
Intimate Partner Violence Partner Involvement Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
Fathering in 15™ is an interactive, online tool that helps organizations build the skills of fathers anytime, anywhere. Fathering in 15™ takes fathers through 15 interactive, engaging topics, each in 15 minutes. It is accessible on any computer or mobile device, and can be used a stand-alone, self-paced resource or to complement an existing group-based fatherhood program. Each topic follows the same framework using text written at 5th-6th grade reading level, along with short videos and interactive graphics to engage fathers in learning.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This brief looks at common acceptability, availability, and accessibility barriers to mental and substance use disorder (behavioral health) treatment and services in rural communities and presents ways telehealth can help surmount some of these barriers. The term telehealth refers to using internet and communications technologies, such as videoconferencing, chat, and text messaging, to provide health information and treatments in real time.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Case Management/Care Coordination Depression
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
Screening and brief intervention (SBI) is a structured set of questions designed to identify individuals at risk for alcohol use problems, followed by a brief discussion between an individual and a service provider, with referral to specialized treatment as needed. This manual is designed to provide public health professionals, such as health educators and community health workers, with the information, skills, and tools needed to conduct SBI so that they can help at-risk drinkers reduce their alcohol use to a safe amount or stop drinking. The manual offers background information and practical steps for conducting SBI in a variety of public health settings, including trauma centers, emergency departments, other clinical settings, home visits, and public events.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Case Management/Care Coordination Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This technical package represents a select group of evidence-based strategies and approaches to help programs, communities and states sharpen their focus on prevention activities with the greatest potential to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) and its consequences across the lifespan. These strategies include teaching safe and healthy relationship skills; engaging influential adults and peers; disrupting the developmental pathways toward IPV; creating protective environments; strengthening economic supports for families; and supporting survivors to increase safety and lessen harms. Commitment, cooperation, and leadership from numerous sectors, including public health, education, justice, health care, social services, business and labor, and government can bring about the successful implementation of this package.
Topics:
Intimate Partner Violence Life Course Model Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
This culture-based program uses sources of strength such as spirituality, humor, and healing to assist Native men and their family members address the impact of colonization, trauma, racism and other challenges that threaten the well-being of children and families. The curriculum for Native men is designed to assist Native men reclaim their roles as brave warriors, fathers, and husbands who provide for and protect their families and communities. The curriculum for Native families is designed to assist Native men, women, and their children to address unresolved conflicts in relationships, improve communication skills, and keep Native families together.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Depression Intimate Partner Violence Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The mobile version of the 24/7 Dad® lets dads install a checklist on their smartphones to use on an ongoing basis. The app provides a place where dads can customize time-sensitive checklists of to-do items related to involved, responsible fatherhood and helps them take action steps daily, weekly, and monthly to be active in their children’s lives. The app also includes links to information on the National Fatherhood Initiatives’ NFI’s website keeping dads connected to the latest practical advice and guidance on how to be a 24/7 Dad. Note: Scroll to the bottom of the page to find links to access the app.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This update of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment is intended to address addiction to a wide variety of drugs, including nicotine, alcohol, and illicit and prescription drugs. It is designed to serve as a resource for healthcare providers, family members, and other stakeholders trying to address the myriad problems faced by patients in need of treatment for drug abuse or addiction. It provides an overview of principles of effective treatment and evidence-based approaches to treatment, including behavioral therapies, pharmacotherapies and comprehensive approached. It discusses the unique needs of different groups including women, pregnant women and adolescents.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Case Management/Care Coordination Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This prevention resource guide offers information, strategies, and resources to support community service providers as they work with parents, caregivers, and children to prevent child maltreatment and promote social and emotional well-being. The guide focuses on protective factors that build on family strengths and promote optimal child and youth development. Information about protective factors is augmented with tools and strategies that help providers, advocates and policymakers integrate the factors into community programs and systems. The guide includes tip sheets for parents in English and Spanish on a range of parenting and child development topics.
Topics:
Intimate Partner Violence Life Course Model Parenting Education Partner Involvement Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This series of learning modules is designed for a range of health professionals, human service providers, community health workers, home visitors, and peer supporters who interact with families on topics of safe sleep and breastfeeding. The modules are designed to help users understand the Conversations Approach and gain the knowledge and skills needed to implement it to promote breastfeeding and safe sleep practices. Modules cover: A New Approach, How Babies Sleep and Eat, Understanding Current Recommendations, Anticipating Reluctance and Refusal, Respectful Dialogue and Structure of a Conversation,Creating Plans to Support Family Decisions, and Putting It All Together to Make a Difference.
Topics:
Breastfeeding Parenting Education Safe Sleep
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Safe Sleep Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This webpage offers resources for providers and families on safe sleep practices. Resources for providers include the AAP Policy Statement: SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment. Resources for families include a videos, posters and infographics on safe sleep practices.
Topics:
Parenting Education Safe Sleep
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Safe Sleep
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Program P is a resource developed as part of the global MenCare campaign coordinated by Promundo and the Sonke Gender Justice Network. The manual outlines concrete strategies for engaging men in active caregiving from their partner’s pregnancy through their child’s early years, and preventing violence against women and children. It includes tools to aid in creating open spaces for men in the clinic setting, detailed guidance on providing gender-transformative group education for men, and advice on encouraging community mobilization around fatherhood, child protection, maternal and child health and gender equality. It is available in 5 languages.
Topics:
Intimate Partner Violence Parenting Education Partner Involvement Prenatal Care and Education
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The CRAFFT is a short, validated behavioral health tool developed to screen adolescents under age 21 for high risk alcohol and drug use. Recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, it consists of 6 questions involving Car, Relax, Alone, Forget, Friends, and Trouble. The tool is meant to assess whether a longer conversation about the context of use, frequency, and other risks and consequences of alcohol and/or drug use is warranted. It is available in 13 languages.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This set of 9 fact sheets for programs that serve families makes the case and provides implementation tips for fully and effectively engaging fathers. The fact sheets describe the importance of involved fathers for improving maternal and child health outcomes, supporting children’s early learning and reducing family and community violence. They also provide best practice do’s and don’ts, tips for attracting fathers to programs, and father-inclusive evaluation strategies.
Topics:
Participant Recruitment and Retention Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Moms2B provides weekly education and support sessions for expectant mothers to promote healthy lifestyle choices and link women with support services. Topics covered include: breastfeeding, child development, family planning, goal setting, prenatal labor and delivery, maternal-infant health, positive parenting, reproductive health, and safe sleep. Moms2B is provided free of charge, with transportation assistance, on-site childcare and a hot, healthy meal. Ohio State University and community social service organizations support Moms2B participants with ongoing access to healthcare providers, lactation counselors, social workers, parenting educators and community health workers. The Moms2B program is based on an evidence-based pilot curriculum shown to increase breastfeeding and improve infant health.
Topics:
Breastfeeding Nutrition Parenting Education Prenatal Care and Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Safe Sleep
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Reproductive Life Plan Safe Sleep
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This toolkit is designed to help health centers to build a comprehensive and sustainable response to domestic violence and sexual assault (DV/SA) in partnership with DV/SA advocacy programs (social service organizations).Through five essential steps, health centers and social service partners can build partnerships, adopt evidence-based interventions, promote patient education around IPV, and enhance practice policies, procedures, and capacities to improve long-term health and safety outcomes for women and their families.
Topics:
Case Management/Care Coordination Intimate Partner Violence Patient-centered Medical Home Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Connected Kids is a program of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) designed to address the important issue of violence prevention. One third of the program is devoted to infants and toddlers, and contains suggested anticipatory guidance, a counseling schedule, and recommended educational brochures. Covered issues include handling parental frustration, disciplining toddlers, safety in the home, and a discussion of firearms. Although the program is designed for pediatricians, it could be useful to anyone working with parents of young children.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Safe Homes, Safe Babies is a safety card for women that perinatal health care providers can distribute to patients. In addition to providing safety resources for women, this tool also functions as a prompt for perinatal health care providers by providing quick phrases to improve discussions with women about the impact of domestic violence on their parenting and children. The safety card outlines questions women may ask themselves about their relationships, birth control use and parenting, while offering supportive messages and referrals to national support services for help.
Topics:
Depression Intimate Partner Violence Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence Perinatal Depression Screening
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The American Academy of Pediatrics FASD Toolkit was developed in coordination with the CDC to raise awareness, promote surveillance and screening, and ensure that all children who possibly have FASDs receive appropriate and timely interventions. Focused primarily on providers, it features basic information on FASD, diagnostic tools for use in children suspected of being affected, evidence-based interventions, and guidelines for case management/care coordination. The site also contains FAQ and a list of resources for families and school professionals who care for children with FASD.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Case Management/Care Coordination Parenting Education
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Failure to address IPV among women who use alcohol or other drugs has been found to increase the likelihood of continued drug use, relapse, attrition from drug treatment and a host of other negative physical and mental health consequences. WINGS is a single-session intervention that aims to address a critical gap in IPV services for women by identifying women in the community at risk of IPV, enabling them to develop social support and safety planning skills to reduce their risks for IPV and linking them to IPV-related services and substance use treatment. The intervention may be delivered in-person or via a computerized self-paced version.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Intimate Partner Violence
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This manual is designed for training community health workers on how to support expecting and new mothers with depression, using evidence-based cognitive behavioral techniques. Community Health Workers can assist depressed mothers to change their unhealthy patterns of thinking and behavior, leading to an improvement in their mood and functioning, and prevention of later problems in their infants. The manual provides a step-by-step guide for CHWs implementing the Thinking Healthy intervention in 15 sessions with mothers (from pregnancy through baby’s first 10 months), and includes a structured process for each session, activities, worksheets and charts, and communication tips. This manual is a generic version for global use of a manual originally developed in Pakistan and later used in many other countries.
Topics:
Depression Parenting Education
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This child safety web site was developed by the ACLS Training Center, noted for its experience in emergency situations. It contains numerous tools designed to help parents ensure their children’s safety, including a Safety Checklist for New Parents, guidelines on creating a safe home environment, and tips on when it is safe for babies to move on to the next milestone in sleeping, feeding etc. Additional sections are devoted to prevention of choking, drowning, poisoning, and travel-related injuries, and outdoor and neighborhood safety. All are user-friendly, easily accessible and readable.
Topics:
Parenting Education
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This CDC website provides concise information on risks for lead poisoning in children and evidence-based recommendations for decreasing those risks. It features both tips for parents and guidelines for providers to prevent childhood lead poisoning, along with info graphics and educational recommendations for children affected by lead.
Topics:
Parenting Education Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This brief, self-administered Social Support Survey instrument was developed for patients in the Medical Outcomes Study (MOS), a two-year study of patients with chronic conditions. It is thought to also be appropriate for use with other populations. The instrument was designed to be comprehensive in terms of recent thinking about the various dimensions of social support – emotional/informational, tangible, affectionate, and positive social interaction. It is easy to administer and the items are short, simple, and easy to understand.
Topics:
Life Course Model Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
There is convincing research evidence that people experiencing greater discrimination in day-to-day life tend to have poorer physical and mental health outcomes than their counterparts. The Everyday Discrimination Scale (EDS) is a validated screen widely used to measure perceived discrimination. An original version of the EDS consists of nine items on a 6-point Likert-type response format, and a short version has been modified to five items.
Topics:
Life Course Model Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The NIDA Quick Screen is a validated instrument designed to assist providers in screening adults for substance use. The screen simply inquires whether a participant has used drugs (mood-altering, illegal, or prescription for nonmedical reasons), alcohol, or tobacco products within the past year and how often these substances have been used. The NIDA website also provides guidelines for brief intervention and/or treatment referral for patients who may have or be at risk of developing a substance use disorder.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Risk Assessment Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Promoting First Relationships (PFR) is an evidence-based curriculum for service providers who work with families of young children (0-5). Through this training, participants learn consultation and intervention strategies that they can integrate into their work with families and young children. The approach can be used one-on-one with parents, in the clinic or in home, and also with child care providers and early childhood teachers responsible for group care. The training incorporates various learning approaches including video case studies, role-playing, and reflective dialogue. These approaches allow participants to apply the framework directly to issues faced in their work environment.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
Family Spirit is an evidence-based early childhood home-visiting program designed for and by American Indian communities. Family Spirit combines the use of paraprofessionals from the community as home visitors and a culturally focused, strengths-based curriculum as a core strategy to support young families. From pregnancy through the child’s 3rd birthday, parents gain knowledge and skills to promote healthy development and positive lifestyles for themselves and their children. Family Spirit addresses intergenerational behavioral health problems, optimizes local cultural assets, and overcomes deficits in the professional health care workforce in low resource communities. Evidence from three randomized controlled trials has documented important results including: increased parenting knowledge and involvement; decreased maternal depression; increased home safety; decreased emotional and behavioral problems of mothers; and decreased emotional and behavioral problems of children. The Family Spirit curriculum modules cover: Prenatal Care, Infant Care, Your Growing Child, Toddler Care, My Family and Me, and Healthy Living.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Depression Home Visiting Parenting Education Partner Involvement Prenatal Care and Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Initiating Breastfeeding Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening Reproductive Life Plan Safe Sleep Smoking Abstinence Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
This webpage provides basic information on a variety of contraceptive methods, including a link to a poster comparing typical effectiveness of contraceptive methods. The poster can be used to show women and men the range of contraception choices available to them, and which methods work best at preventing pregnancy. The webpage also provides additional resources on contraception for health care providers and consumers.
Topics:
Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Reproductive Life Plan
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course that gives people the skills to help someone who is developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. The evidence behind the program demonstrates that it does build mental health literacy, helping the public identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental illness. Mental Health First Aiders learn a 5-step action plan that guides them through the process of reaching out and offering appropriate support. The “adult course” is available in both English and Spanish, and covers anxiety, depression, psychosis, and addictions in adults. The “youth course” is for adults who interact regularly with young people ages 12-18.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Depression
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This component of the Child Development section of the CDC website provides information for parents on developmental milestones and positive parenting tips by age group, covering children 0-17 years of age. Age-specific injury prevention and safety advice as well as guidelines for promoting healthy bodies are also given. Parents or service providers for parents can download Positive Parenting Tip Sheets for use as take-home handouts.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The recommended immunization schedule is designed to protect infants and children early in life, when they are most vulnerable and before they are exposed to potentially life-threatening diseases. This web page contains immunization schedules that parents can view or print showing the age or age range when each vaccine or series of shots is recommended. Available in English and Spanish.
Topics:
Immunization
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Counseling parents and children about the prevention of common childhood injuries is an important contribution toward preventing the major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. TIPP is designed to provide a systematic method for pediatricians to counsel parents and children about adopting behaviors to prevent injuries—behaviors that are effective and capable of being accomplished by most families.This Guide includes a table showing the major safety issues and injury hazards for each age group for children 0-10 years old, and provides counseling guidelines for educating parents about injury prevention tailored to the age of their child.
Topics:
Parenting Education
Approaches:
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This section of the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse provides resources on healthy relationships for programs that serve families. Healthy marriages and healthy relationships can serve an important role in promoting responsible fatherhood initiatives. Whether the fathers and families in your programs are currently married or not, integrating healthy relationship skills into your programs can better support fathers’ relationships with their partners and improve their co-parenting situations, leading to healthier models and environments for their children.
Topics:
Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Common Sense Parenting® (CSP) is a multi-session series for parents that provides logical strategies and easy-to-learn techniques to address issues of communication, discipline, decision making, relationships, self control, and school success for families in all situations. These classes incorporate research-proven child-care methods that are derived from the Boys Town Treatment Family Homes program and adapted for use in the home by parents. The program was originally designed for parents of children ages 6 to 16, but an adaptation for parents of toddlers and preschoolers also is available, along with a supplemental class on parenting children with ADHD.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
WISE GUYS: THE NEXT LEVEL is a flexible 5 to 12 week program that specifically targets men age 18 and older. Special topics that are addressed include stress and anger management; cohabitation and marriage; alcohol and other drugs; and an expanded fatherhood curriculum that provides information and resources for fathers from RAD (the Responsible and Active Dads program). The great information from the original Wise Guys program is also included in such a way as to suit its older audience.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Parenting Education Partner Involvement Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning STDs including HIV
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Nurturing Fathers Program is an evidence-based, 13-week group-based program designed to teach parenting and nurturing skills to men. The Nurturing Fathers Program is an adaptation of the Nurturing Program philosophy and lessons are designed and implemented specifically for dads.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
Medical‐legal partnership (MLP) is an approach to health that integrates the work of healthcare, public health, and civil legal aid to more effectively identify, treat, and prevent health‐harming legal needs for patients, clinics, and populations. MLP addresses legal needs in the areas of income supports and insurance; housing and utilities; employment and education; legal status; and personal and family stability. MLP:
- Trains healthcare, public health, and legal teams to work collaboratively and identify needs upstream;
- Treats individual patients’ health‐harming social and legal needs with legal care ranging from triage and consultations to legal representation;
- Transforms clinic practice and institutional policies to better respond to patients’ health‐harming social and legal needs; and
- Prevents health‐harming legal needs broadly by detecting patterns and improving policies and regulations that have an impact on population health.
Topics:
Case Management/Care Coordination Insurance Coverage Other Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Achieve Collective Impact Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
CAN Implementation Health Insurance
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This is the official government website where participants can find out if they qualify for health insurance, what their options are, and what assistance may be available to them (including Medicaid and CHIP). They can then proceed to apply for insurance at this site
Topics:
Insurance Coverage
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Health Insurance
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Reach Out and Read is an evidence-based non-profit organization of medical providers who promote early literacy and school readiness in pediatric exam rooms nationwide by integrating children’s books and advice to parents about the importance of reading aloud into well-child visits. Reach Out and Read builds on the unique relationship between parents and medical providers to develop critical early reading skills in children, beginning in infancy.
Topics:
Other Parenting Education
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Reading to Child Daily
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This chart shows recommended pediatric preventive health care services to be delivered at well-child visits for children ages 0-21, including history, measurements, screenings, assessments, procedures, physical exam, oral health, and anticipatory guidance. These guidelines represent a consensus by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and Bright Futures. The recommendations in this statement do not indicate an exclusive course of treatment or standard of medical care. Variations, taking into account individual circumstances, may be appropriate.
Topics:
Other
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Mom as Gateway is a workshop designed to address what is known as Maternal Gatekeeping – when a mother’s beliefs about a father, as well as her behaviors, hinder a father’s involvement with his children. Moms attend three 1-hour workshops that emphasize the importance of paternal involvement and aim to facilitate co-parenting by breaking down barriers between mothers and fathers.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
InsideOut Dad is an evidence-based fatherhood program designed specifically for incarcerated fathers. It aims to help these men improve their parenting skills and develop stronger relationships with their children while in prison and after release. The program consists of twelve 2-hour core sessions delivered weekly to groups of up to 12 fathers.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
Boot Camp is a father-to-father community-based workshop that aims to inspire and equip men to become confidently engaged with their infants, support their mates, and personally navigate their transformation into dads. The nonprofit has been named a best practice by many organizations and, having graduated over 325,000 men, is by far the nation’s largest program for new fathers.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
These three brief (2-3 minute) videos explore resilience, a positive adaptive response to serious adversity in a young child’s life, and how it is built. A better understanding of how resilience develops can help develop policies and programs to help more children reach their full potential.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Magic of Everyday Moments video series is designed to help parents and professionals understand how they can best help very young children thrive. The first in the series explores brain development, early literacy skills, the power of play, and temperament. The second examines development in each of the first three years of life.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The UNCOPE consists of six questions and may be used free of charge for oral administration in any medical, psychosocial, or clinical interview to provide a simple and quick means of identifying risk for abuse and dependence for alcohol and other drugs.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The DAST is a 20-item instrument for clinical and nonclinical screening to detect drug abuse or dependence disorders. It is most useful in settings in which seeking treatment for drug use problems is not the patient’s stated goal.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The TWEAK (Tolerance, Worry, Eye-Opener, Amnesia, Cut-Down) is a five-item scale originally developed to screen for risk drinking during pregnancy. The items are not gender specific, however, and the scale can be used with either women or men.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The ASSIST (Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test) is an 8-item questionnaire designed to be administered by a health worker to a client using paper and pencil, and takes about 5-10 minutes to administer. The ASSIST provides information about the substances people have ever used in their lifetime; those used in the past three months; problems related to substance use; risk of current or future harm; dependence; and injecting drug use. The ASSIST was designed to be culturally neutral and usable across a variety of cultures.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This toolkit equips community-based providers with information and strategies for use in working with mothers who may be depressed. Includes background information and facts about depression; screening tools for more serious depression; and referrals, resources, and handouts for mothers who are depressed.
Topics:
Depression
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Follow Up
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Family Foundations program has been shown in NIH-funded research to help couples create strong, nurturing family bonds and raise well-adjusted children. Developed by clinical psychologist, family therapist, and prevention scientist Mark Feinberg, Ph.D. DVDs and workbooks help parents learn how to work together as an effective team to promote children’s sleep, self-regulation, attention, social competence, and well-being. Topic areas addressed in the program include: preparing for parenthood; working as a team; managing conflict; division of labor; planning fun and affection; and teaching and discipline. Includes 6 DVDs, with nearly 6 hours of content broken into 11 chapters, and a detailed workbook for each parent.
Topics:
Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Growing Great Kids (GGK) is a comprehensive and skills-focused home visiting curriculum that takes a strength-based approach to growing nurturing parent-child relationships and supporting healthy childhood development. GGK modules are specifically designed to build protective factors for children, strengthen family foundations, and cultivate parental resilience. Training for home visitors to be certified to deliver the curriculum builds their competencies for: nurturing parental resiliency; advancing individual and family functioning; reducing a child’s exposure to toxic stress; nurturing parents’ problem-solving skills; strengthening the families’ support networks; and enabling parents to construct protective buffers around their children.
Topics:
Home Visiting Parenting Education Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
A series of easy-to-read informational materials for parents on taking care of young children’s oral health. Includes handouts on: brushing your child’s teeth, choosing healthy drinks for your child, getting fluoride for your child, helping your baby with teething pain, preventing mouth injuries, and visiting the dental clinic.
Topics:
Oral Health
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status: Developmental Milestones (PEDS:DM) is a validated screening and surveillance tool that elicits parents’ report on a child’s skills and behavior. Six to eight questions per visit are used to assess fine motor, gross motor, expressive language, receptive language, self-help, and socio-emotional skills. The survey is designed for children at any age from 0 to 8 and takes about 5 minutes to complete and one minute to score.
Topics:
Parenting Education Risk Assessment Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Parents’ Evaluation of Developmental Status (PEDS) is a ten-question validated surveillance and screening tool designed to elicit parents’ concerns about their child’s development, behavior, and mental health. It takes about 5 minutes for parents to complete and 1-2 minutes to score. The screen can be used to indicate whether reassurance, advice, watchful waiting, further screening, or referral are called for in a child between ages 0 and 8.
Topics:
Parenting Education Risk Assessment Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Guide to breastfeeding interventions that have been reviewed by the Cochrane Collaboration and published through the Cochrane Library, a comprehensive collection of up-to-date information on the effects of health care interventions.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This document provides guidance for public health professionals and others on how to select strategies to support breastfeeding mothers and increase breastfeeding rates. It offers the most relevant information on each type of strategy. Includes information that may be important to keep in mind during the planning, implementation, or evaluation phases of a strategy. Identifies specific activities for each strategy that public health professionals can take to implement strategies in specific settings, including communities, schools, child care facilities, work sites, and medical care facilities. Includes examples of programs that use the strategy as a way to support and increase breastfeeding.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Nationally recognized, research-based, practice-informed curriculum used by many home visiting models to meet their program goals including improving birth outcomes, reducing rates of child abuse, strengthening families, enhancing child health and developmental outcomes, and promoting family stability and economic self-sufficiency. The curriculum addresses issues of child health and development within the context of the multifaceted needs of expectant and parenting families. Five-volume book series for different stages in pregnancy/parenthood, accompanied by a set of handouts for the home visitor to use when planning visits. Handouts for families can be purchased in English or Spanish and help the home visitor introduce subjects that may otherwise be difficult to talk about.
Topics:
Father/Partner Involvement Home Visiting Parenting Education
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Initiating Breastfeeding Reading to Child Daily Safe Sleep Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
24/7 Dad® is a comprehensive fatherhood program available with innovative tools, strategies, and exercises for fathers of all races, religions, cultures, and backgrounds. Developed by fathering and parenting experts, it focuses on the characteristics men need to be good fathers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. 24/7 Dad® focuses on key fathering characteristics like masculinity, discipline, and work-family balance – and helps men evaluate their parenting skills. The 24/7 Dad® curriculum was developed using a theoretical framework which is a combination of several theories (a multi-theory framework) that includes Social Learning Theory, Theory of Planned Behavior, Attachment Theory, Transtheoretical Model (also known as Stages of Change)
Topics:
Partner Involvement
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Period of PURPLE Crying program consists of a video and booklet that help new parents understand and safely cope with infant crying, the most common trigger for shaken baby syndrome. The materials describe normal infant crying, explain the easy-to-remember acronym PURPLE (with each letter standing for various features of infant crying), suggest strategies for comforting a baby, acknowledge caregiver frustration when a baby cannot be soothed, explain the dangers of shaking the infant, and outline a positive approach for handling an inconsolable infant. Labor and delivery or discharge nurses distribute these materials to new parents prior to hospital discharge. Pediatricians, public health workers, adoption agencies, and other organizations may also distribute these materials or reinforce their messages, which may be complemented by a public education campaign. There is also a website for parents.
Topics:
Parenting Education
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
The Triple P–Positive Parenting Program is a multilevel system or suite of parenting and family support strategies for families with children from birth to age 12, with extensions to families with teenagers ages 13 to 16. Developed for use with families from many cultural groups, Triple P is designed to prevent social, emotional, behavioral, and developmental problems in children by enhancing their parents’ knowledge, skills, and confidence. The program, which also can be used for early intervention and treatment, is founded on social learning theory and draws on cognitive, developmental, and public health theories. Triple P has five intervention levels of increasing intensity to meet each family’s specific needs.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
The Touchpoints approach offers healthcare providers and early education professionals a framework to build better partnerships with families around mutual strengths-based caregiving and parent engagement, all of which benefit child outcomes. Rooted in child social, emotional and behavioral development, Touchpoints seeks to improve parent-provider relationships, improve provider relationships with each other, enhance parent-infant relationships, moderate parental stress, normalize parent’s perceptions of their child’s behavior, increase well-child care adherence, improve infant developmental outcomes, improve maternal mental health indicators, and encourage longer breastfeeding. A variety of professional tools, training activities and learning communities are offered for providers.
Topics:
Breastfeeding Other Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
STEP provides skills training for parents dealing with frequently encountered challenges with their children that often result from autocratic parenting styles. STEP is presented in a group format, with optimal group size of 6 – 14 parents. The program is typically taught in 8 or 9 weekly, 1.5-hour study groups facilitated by a counselor, social worker, or individual who has participated in a STEP workshop. Parents engage in role-plays, exercises, discussions of hypothetical parenting situations, and the sharing of personal experiences.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
Strengthening Families is a research-informed approach to increase family strengths, enhance child development and reduce the likelihood of child abuse and neglect. It is a systems development approach based on engaging families, programs and communities in building five protective factors: parental resilience, social connections, knowledge of parenting and child development, concrete support in times of need, social and emotional competence of children. Supported by helpful material that can be adopted and adapted for any program or service sector, including a program self-assessment to improve practice, an online data system, an online training curriculum, and the Strengthening Families national network.
Topics:
Other Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence Reading to Child Daily
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
STAR Parenting provides parents with tools and information they need to raise their children to be adults they admire. STAR Parenting provides parents (and anyone who works with children) with a problem-solving process, 5 general strategies, and 15 practical tools. STAR Parenting offers in-person and online training, and a STAR parenting community forum.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Nurturing Parenting Programs are a family-centered trauma-informed initiative designed to build nurturing parenting skills as an alternative to abusive and neglecting parenting and child-rearing practices. The long term goals are to prevent recidivism in families receiving social services, lower the rate of teenage pregnancies, reduce the rate of juvenile delinquency and alcohol abuse, and stop the intergenerational cycle of child abuse by teaching positive parenting behaviors.
Lessons can be delivered in home setting, group setting, or combination. Nurturing Parents offer targeted programs for prenatal families, parents of babies and toddlers, parents of older children, Spanish speaking parents, parents of children with health challenges, teen parents, military parents, parents in substance abuse treatment and recovery, and more.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
Legacy for Children is primarily a group-based intervention approach, featuring regular group meetings of mothers, that include mother-only time and mother–child time. The meetings provide mothers with an opportunity to develop and explore goals for their children with other mothers in similar circumstances. Intervention specialists assist mothers in identifying and practicing ways to help their children realize those goals. The group sessions encourage exploration and trying out a variety of ideas and practices that have been associated with positive outcomes, allowing mothers to decide what is right for themselves and their children. Legacy also includes one-on-one sessions with mothers.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Reading to Child Daily
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
The Incredible Years (IY) Series is a set of interlocking and comprehensive training programs for parents, teachers and children. There are four basic parenting programs that target key developmental stages: IY Baby Program (0-8 months); IY Toddler Basic Program (1-3 years); IY Preschool Basic (3-6 years); IY School Age Basic (6-12 years) plus three adjunct parent programs focusing on cross-cutting issues. IY program goals include: Improved parent-child interactions, improved parental functioning, increased parental social support and problem solving, prevention and treatment of early onset conduct behaviors and emotional problems in children, and promotion of child social competence, emotional regulation, academic readiness and problem solving. For children over age 3, there are two child programs and one Incredible Teacher Classroom Management Program for teachers of children ages 3-8 .
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Reading to Child Daily
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
CICC’s Effective Black Parenting Program (EBPP) is the country’s first culturally-adapted parenting skill-building program for parents of African American children. EBPP consists of 14 3-hour training sessions and a graduation ceremony. The program contains culturally-specific parenting strategies, general parenting strategies, basic parenting skills taught in a culturally-sensitive manner, using African American language expressions and African proverbs, and special program topics such as single parenting and preventing drug abuse. Targets families with children 0-18.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
SafeCare aims to prevent and address factors associated with child abuse and neglect. Eligible clients include families with a history of child maltreatment or families at risk for child maltreatment. SafeCare provides 18 to 22 weeks of training to parents with children from birth to age 5. During weekly or biweekly home visits, trained home visitors conduct baseline and follow-up assessments, observations, and trainings with parents. Trainings focus on three modules: 1) infant and child health, 2) home safety, and 3) parent-child interactions. SafeCare Augmented adds motivational interviewing and additional training of home visitors on identification and response to imminent child maltreatment and risk factors, such as substance abuse and depression. SafeCare Augmented was adapted for high-risk, rural communities. Only SafeCare Augmented is considered an evidence-based practice by HomVEE.
Topics:
Home Visiting Intimate Partner Violence Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
The PALS curriculum was developed to facilitate parents’ mastery of specific skills for interacting with their infants and toddlers that lead to better child outcomes, particularly in children from high-risk families. PALS was designed as a preventive intervention program to strengthen the parent-child bond and stimulate early language, cognitive, and social development. The PALS Infant curriculum consists of 10 sessions and is appropriate for parents of infants from about age five months to one year. The PALS Toddler curriculum consists of 12 sessions and is appropriate for parents of toddlers from about age 18 months to 3 years.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
PAT aims to increase parent knowledge of early childhood development and improve parenting practices, provide early detection of developmental delays and health issues, prevent child abuse and neglect, and increase children’s school readiness and school success. The PAT model consists of one-on-one home visits, group connections/meetings, health and developmental screenings for children, and a resource network for parents. Program lasts for at least two years, beginning as early as pregnancy and ending at the child’s 3rd birthday or at kindergarten entry.
Topics:
Home Visiting Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Reading to Child Daily Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
The Nurse Family Partnership program provides home visits by registered nurses to first-time mothers, beginning during pregnancy and continuing through the child’s second birthday. The program aims to: improve pregnancy outcomes by promoting health-related behaviors; improve child health, development, and safety by promoting competent caregiving; and enhance parent life-course development by promoting pregnancy planning, educational achievement, and employment. Secondary goals include providing links with needed health and social services, and promoting supportive social relationships.
Topics:
Home Visiting Parenting Education Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Reproductive Life Plan
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
Child FIRST aims to decrease the incidence of abuse and neglect, developmental and learning problems, and emotional and behavioral disturbance among high-risk children and families. Provides home visiting services to pregnant women and families with children up to 6 years old. Includes a comprehensive assessment of child and family needs, parent-child mental health intervention, observation and consultation in early care and education, development of a child and family plan of care, and care coordination and case management.
Topics:
Home Visiting Intimate Partner Violence Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative is the leading national coalition dedicated to advancing the patient-centered medical home. This searchable list contains a list of available programs providing medical homes. The programs are listed by state and with publically-reported outcomes on cost savings, increased preventive services utilization, fewer ED/hospital visits, improved access, and patient and provider satisfaction.
Topics:
Patient-centered Medical Home
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Usual Source of Care
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
The TABS Screener is a 15 item checklist completed by parents to identify children who should receive more thorough assessment for developmental items related to temperament and self-regulation. If a child’s score indicates a potential problem, the more extensive TABS assessment tool can be used. For use with children ages 11 to 71 months, TABS can be used for screening, research, determining eligibility for services, planning programs, and monitoring child progress and program effectiveness.
Topics:
Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
: Learn the Signs, Act Early aims to improve early identification of children with autism and other developmental disabilities so children and families can get needed services and support. The program has three components: a health education campaign, the Act Early initiative, and research and evaluation. The campaign promotes awareness of healthy developmental milestones during childhood, and the importance of tracking each child’s development and acting early if there are concerns. The Act Early Initiative works with state, territorial and national partners to improve early childhood screening and referral systems. The program website includes many free materials for providers, health centers and parents, videos and other multimedia tools and training programs for providers.
Topics:
Parenting Education Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Reading to Child Daily
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Greenspan Social-Emotional Growth Chart measures social-emotional milestones in young children ages 0 to 42 months. It is a questionnaire completed by the child’s parent or other caregiver to understand how the child uses all capacities to meet needs, deal with feelings, think, and communicate. Used to determine whether further assessment or referral is warranted and can assist in monitoring growth and planning intervention.
Topics:
Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
ASQ:SE is a screening tool that identifies infants and young children whose social and emotional development requires further evaluation to determine if referral for intervention services is necessary. ASQ:SE was developed to help home visiting, early intervention, Early Head Start, Head Start, child welfare agencies, and other early childhood programs accurately screen infants and young children determine who would benefit from an in-depth evaluation in the area of social-emotional development. Parents fill out easy to score questionnaires specific to their child’s age. Used for children 3-66 months.
Topics:
Socio-emotional Development for Children
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
A product of the Healthy Native Babies Project, this workbook packet explores ways to promote safe sleep messages and prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) among American Indian/Alaska Native infants. The contents of this workbook include handouts, a toolkit disk, and a toolkit user guide. Local health departments may use the toolkit to design culturally-appropriate posters, flyers, postcards, brochures, and other materials.
Topics:
Safe Sleep
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Safe Sleep
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
Aims to promote the health and safety of infants in childcare settings by providing education and outreach to child care providers regarding safe sleep recommendations. Offers a free, 1 hour online course designed to educate everyone who cares for babies on creating a safe sleep environment to reduce the risk of SIDS and other sleep related deaths. Includes promotional materials and brochures, and a presentation that can be used by health care professionals or anyone presenting on SIDS in childcare settings.
Topics:
Safe Sleep
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Safe Sleep
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Safe to Sleep® campaign, formerly known as the Back to Sleep Campaign, offers a variety of materials to help share safe infant sleep messages with different audiences. Many of these items are available for download and order.
Topics:
Safe Sleep
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Safe Sleep
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
National organization which provides safe sleep education and products including a portable crib distributed to families through partner organizations. Provides a hospital initiative toolkit and the Safe Sleep Ambassador Education Outreach Program. Hospital Initiative Toolkit includes information and tools for hospitals to implement a hospital-based infant sleep safety program.
Topics:
Safe Sleep
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Safe Sleep
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Ten Steps are the broad framework that guide the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. They were developed by a team of global experts and consist of evidence-based practices that have been shown to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration. Baby-Friendly® hospitals and birthing facilities must adhere to the Ten Steps to receive, and retain, a Baby-Friendly designation. This webpage lists the Ten Steps and the endorsing organizations and links to supporting resources for both hospitals and parents.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Provides an example of a breastfeeding policy for hospitals. Included in the CDC’s list of evidence based strategies to support breastfeeding.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This toolkit provides information on implementing the Perinatal Core Measure of exclusive breast milk feeding in a healthcare setting. The toolkit provides guidance on data collection and adherence to best practices.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Colorado-based initiative that provides informational sessions to state hospitals and medical centers on 5 Baby-Friendly steps associated with breastfeeding duration. 51 of 55 hospitals in Colorado have received training. Included in the CDC’s list of evidence based strategies to support breastfeeding.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
Nationwide quality improvement initiative to help hospitals improve maternity care and increase the number of “Baby-friendly” designated hospitals in the US. Administered by NICHQ with the CDC and Baby-Friendly USA. Recruited 89 hospitals to participate in a 22 month learning collaborative. Hospitals use quality improvement methods to learn how to make system level changes to maternity care practices in order to be designated “baby friendly.”
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative outlines 10 steps that support the initiation of breastfeeding. The 10 Steps consist of evidence-based practices that have been proven to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration. Hospitals that have become Baby-Friendly have breastfeeding rates well above the national average. Endorsed and promoted by all major maternal and child health authorities, including CDC.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Developed by USDA to use the WIC Loving Support promotional campaign in a peer counseling setting. Peer counselors receive training on how to support prenatal and breastfeeding mothers in WIC programs at home over the telephone. Peer counselors may provide clinic-based counseling, make post-partum visits, lead prenatal breastfeeding classes and postpartum support groups, and/or provide one-on-one support in the hospital setting.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
Staff training materials to train WIC staff in the skills required to promote and support breastfeeding in the WIC setting. Addresses adult learning strategies and core breastfeeding competencies for staff. Evidence based and informed by focus groups and interviews. Includes a CD of training materials, and video trainings available on DVD.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Uses child development principles to boost parent confidence, facilitate parent-child bonding, and promote breastfeeding duration. HUG has been implemented in many countries and can been integrated into nursing programs, hospitals, home visitation programs, prenatal clinics, etc. Materials include DVDs, e-newsletters, blogs, music video songs, social media, posters, and online courses. Also includes The Roadmap to Breastfeeding Success, an additional lactation online course that integrates best practices in lactation support with child development theory.
Topics:
Breastfeeding Parenting Education
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Father/Partner Prenatal Involvement Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
The Fathers Supporting Breastfeeding program was created by the USDA and uses a video, poster, and brochures to reach African American fathers, so that they may positively influence their partners’ decision to breastfeed. The campaign is part of national efforts to increase breastfeeding initiation and duration rates among African American women. Project materials can also be used with men in other racial and ethnic groups.
Topics:
Breastfeeding
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Father/Partner Parenting Involvement Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides Federal grants to States for supplemental foods, health care referrals, and nutrition education for low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to age five who are found to be at nutritional risk.
Topics:
Breastfeeding Nutrition
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding Well Child Visits Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The USDA’s recommendations for nutrition for breastfeeding mothers. Includes a customizable daily food plan for breastfeeding mothers, which keeps track of the baby’s weight and needs.
Topics:
Breastfeeding Nutrition
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
A variety of videos, audio, and PSAs developed for National Infant Immunization Week. Videos and audio can be found in English and Spanish. Media tools include printable ads, and brochures.
Topics:
Immunization
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Care Record (EHR) Incentive Programs provide incentive payments to eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs) as they adopt, implement, upgrade or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology. Contains information on the incentive programs, an eligibility assessment took, and information on getting started to implement EHRs.
Topics:
Other
Approaches:
Increase Accountability
Benchmarks:
Quality Improvement/Evaluation
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
“PASOs (or “steps” in Spanish) aims to improve health of Latino families in South Carolina by educating Latino parents and caregivers on issues related to healthy pregnancies and prenatal care, as well as appropriate child development and resources for child health, and by advocating for better, more accessible services for Latinos. PASOs provides a free, comprehensive 14-hour prenatal empowerment course, community health outreach and individual interventions to Latino families, and consultative services for maternal and child health providers and policymakers throughout South Carolina.
Topics:
Parenting Education Prenatal Care and Education
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Reading to Child Daily Reproductive Life Plan Sustaining Breastfeeding Well Child Visits Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
This toolkit for providers offered by Futures without Violence® includes assessment tools for screening women for IPV in a clinical setting, and information on supported referral and counseling. Accompanying materials available for purchase include promotional materials for healthcare settings, and the publication Addressing Intimate Partner Violence, Reproductive and Sexual Coercion: A Guide for Obstetric, Gynecologic and Reproductive Health Care Settings.
Topics:
Intimate Partner Violence
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Evidence-based home visitation case-management model for mothers who abuse alcohol and/or drugs during their pregnancies. PCAP’s goals are to assist substance-abusing pregnant women and mothers in obtaining treatment for substance abuse and staying in recovery, to ensure that children are in safe and stable home environments and are connected to health care, to connect mothers to community resources, and to prevent future births of alcohol and drug-affected infants. Piloted in Washington State, PCAP has been replicated in 7 states, and across Canada and New Zealand.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Case Management/Care Coordination Home Visiting
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Well Child Visits Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
Commonly used, 5-question tool that screens for drug and alcohol use/abuse. The CAGE-AID Assessment is a quick questionnaire to help determine if further assessment is needed. If a person answers yes to two or more questions, a complete assessment is advised. Included on the Healthy Start National Evaluation Program Survey.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
10-item questionnaire that screens for hazardous or harmful alcohol consumption. Developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), it correctly classifies 95% of people into either alcoholics or non-alcoholics. The AUDIT has been used with a variety of populations and cultural groups. It should be administered by a health professional or paraprofessional. Included on the Healthy Start National Evaluation Program Survey.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
You Quit Two Quit aims to ensure that there is a comprehensive system in place to screen and treat tobacco use in women, pregnant women, and postpartum mothers. You Quit Two Quit focuses on low-income women, new mothers, and recidivism prevention. Project activities include increasing the number of providers who screen, advise, and refer patients to the North Carolina Quitline, distributing patient and provider education materials statewide, developing best-practice, sustainable, community based smoking cessation projects for women, pregnant women, and new moms, and creating continuity of care by focusing on the preconception, prenatal and perinatal periods, and including an emphasis on preventing postpartum relapse and eliminating second-hand smoke exposure.
Topics:
Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
The SCRIPT program is designed to be a component of a patient education program for prenatal care providers. The program includes A Pregnant Woman’s Guide to Quit Smoking, a 40 page guide outlining a self-evaluation process to help women quit smoking over a 7 day period; a 15 minute motivational DVD; comprehensive counseling to help pregnant smokers quit or reduce their smoking; and follow up programming to help mothers establish a non-smoking home after birth.
Topics:
Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
In an effort to reduce children’s exposure to tobacco smoke, the Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure program uses pediatric offices to provide smoking cessation assistance to parents who smoke, as well as to help families establish rules for a completely smoke-free home and car. Trained pediatricians and office staff consistently and systematically use a streamlined, three-step version of the traditional five-step (i.e., ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange) approach to smoking cessation and smoke-free home and car rule support. The program has led to an increase in the provision of cessation assistance and higher quit rates.
Topics:
Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
This toolbox is an online resource for Maternal and Child Health researchers, academics, practitioners, policy advocates, and others in the field to share information, innovative strategies, and tools to integrate the Life Course Perspective into MCH work at the local, state, and national levels. Includes resources and tools to learn about the Life Course Perspective and strategies to incorporate the Life Course model into practice and policy.
Topics:
Life Course Model
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Usual Source of Care
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
A ten-item diagnostic questionnaire used with patients with mood disorders to measure severity of depressive episodes.
Topics:
Depression
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Screening
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
One of the oldest and most frequently used screening questionnaires to measure the severity of and change in depressive symptoms among adults in an inpatient setting.
Topics:
Depression
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Screening
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The CESD-R is a screening test for depression and depressive disorder. The CESD-R measures symptoms defined by the American Psychiatric Association’ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-V) for a major depressive episode. The scale is well known and remains as one of the most widely used instruments in the field.
Topics:
Depression
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Screening
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
The BDI-FastScreen is a 7-item self-reporting instrument used to quickly screen for depression in adolescents and adults. The screen can identify depression while excluding symptoms that might be related to medical problems, and was specifically designed for evaluating depression in patients whose behavioral and somatic symptoms attributable to biological, medical, alcohol and/or substance abuse problems may confound diagnosis.
Topics:
Depression
Approaches:
Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Perinatal Depression Screening
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Women.smokefree.gov includes resources for women at any stage hoping to quit smoking tobacco, and has an entire section devoted to pregnant women and mothers. Smokefree MOM is a free texting service that provides tips, advice, and support for pregnant mothers in the process of quitting smoking.
Topics:
Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
An easy-to-implement, evidence-based clinical counseling approach. The 5 A’s: Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange are 5 steps providers can use to identify appropriate interventions based on a patient’s willingness to quit.
Topics:
Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW will connect you directly to your state quitline. All states have quitlines in place with trained coaches who provide information and help with tobacco cessation. Specific services and hours of operation vary from state to state.
Topics:
Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
I. Evidence-based practices—have been rigorously evaluated and shown to be effective by MCH experts.
