INVITED SYMPOSIUM III: PREVENTION TO PROMOTE HEALTH EQUITY AND DECREASE DISPARITIES: THE LEARNING AGENDA APPROACH OF THE MATERNAL, INFANT, AND EARLY CHILDHOOD HOME VISITING (MIECHV) PROGRAM

A learning agenda approach is a foundation of evidence-based policy. Such an approach aims to continually improve program performance by applying existing evidence about what works, generating new knowledge, and using experimentation and innovation to test new approaches to program delivery. From its inception, the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) has incorporated a learning agenda approach that involves (1) continuous quality improvement, (2) performance measurement, and (3) evaluation at the national and local level using impact, quasi-experimental, and descriptive approaches. Each of these activities provides important, but distinct, information about the program to help improve MIECHV’s effectiveness and to build the broader knowledge base regarding home visiting. After a brief overview of the MIECHV program, this panel will start with a description of what is being learned about health and equity from the continuous quality improvement and performance benchmarks activities. Then, the national evaluation of MIECHV, MIHOPE, will be described and early findings concerning implementation and baseline sample characteristics shared. An overview of the local evaluations from both state and tribal grantees will then be described, to provide a window into the types of questions communities are pursuing. Then, the Multi-Site Implementation Evaluation of Tribal MIECHV (MUSE) will be described, as a study specifically designed to understand how the implementation and adaptation of home visiting programs can promote health equity and reduce disparities in tribal communities. Our discussant will consider how the diverse learning agenda approach of MIECHV could be applied to other efforts to take evidence-based programs to scale for promoting health equity and reducing disparities.

 

Chair: Aleta Meyer, ACF

Presenters: Kyle Peplinski, HRSA; Nancy Margie, ACF; Niki Denmark, ACF; and Nancy Whitesell, University of Colorado-Denver

Discussant: Lauren Supplee, Child Trends