Table 2 NICU-Based Strategies for Improving Infant Outcomes and Reducing Racial Disparities43.
From: Improving infant health equity: what have we learned, what do we do
Promote a Culture of Equity | • Establish cultural sensitivity |
• Acknowledge and manage implicit and explicit personal biases | |
• Facilitate nurse-led rounds | |
Identify and Mitigate Social Risks of Families | • Screen for social determinants of health |
• Provide support when necessary for assistance with housing, meals, and transportation and counseling for mental health, drug, or alcohol problems | |
• Include social workers and legal specialists on teams | |
Take Action to Assist Families After Discharge | • Provide carefully tailored discharge teaching |
• Establish meaningful clinical-community partnerships | |
• Utilize home visiting and social media | |
Maintain Support for Families Through Infancy | • Use parent coaches and innovative medical visit structures |
• Provide contraception, family planning, and high-quality obstetric care | |
• Provide evidence-based early intervention programs | |
Develop Robust Quality Improvement Efforts to Ensure Equitable, High-Quality NICU and Follow Through Care to All Newborns by Eliminating Modifiable Disparities | • Establish measurable aims |
• Engage all disciplines, parents, and PCPs | |
• Obtain support from organizational leaders through a formal charter | |
Advocate for Social Justice at the Local, State, and National Levels | • Ensure that social justice is part of every organization’s mission |
• Advocate that health organizations accept and act on their responsibility for the populations and neighborhoods that they serve | |
• Speak out! |
