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.
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.
Often referred to as “The Fourth Trimester,” the weeks after birth are a critical time for a woman and her infant, setting the stage for long-term health and well-being. This comprehensive toolkit, with an introduction by Dr. Haywood Brown, includes extensive resources on the key components of postpartum care, including support for new mothers, reproductive life planning, infant care, counseling for substance use, long-term weight management, and many more pertinent topics. It also features a sample postpartum checklist for women to complete.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Chronic Disease Depression Healthy Weight Immunization Intimate Partner Violence Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Safe Sleep Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Intimate Partner Violence Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening Postpartum Visit Reproductive Life Plan Safe Sleep Smoking Abstinence Sustaining Breastfeeding
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.
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.
The Alliance for Innovation on Maternal Health (AIM) is a national data-driven maternal safety and quality improvement initiative based on proven implementation approaches to improving maternal safety and outcomes in the U.S. The AIM supported safety bundles are collections of evidence based protocols and best practices for improving safety in maternity care, and handling obstetric complications and emergencies in hospital and outpatient settings. AIM provides implementation and data support for each AIM supported patient safety bundle.
Topics:
Case Management/Care Coordination Other Prenatal Care and Education Risk Assessment
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Postpartum Visit
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 policy report highlights the need to support young fathers by providing recommendations for child welfare system policy and practice change. Research shows that the relationship between fathers and their children is essential to the well-being of families and the healthy development of children, however little attention is paid to the importance of engaging young fathers under age 26, particularly young fathers who are involved with child welfare systems. This report provides recommendations on how systems can better focus on father involvement to increase positive outcomes for fathers, their children and families.
Topics:
Case Management/Care Coordination Intimate Partner Violence Parenting Education 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.
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.
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 toolkit is designed for women, advocates, community-based organizations, and health care providers to provide information on the coverage of breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling in the health care law (Affordable Care Act) and offer tools to women who encounter problems with this coverage. The toolkit also includes detailed instructions on how to call insurance companies, how to file an appeal if the plan denies coverage, and provides draft appeal letters tailored to commonly encountered scenarios.
Topics:
Breastfeeding Insurance Coverage
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 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.
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.
