Patients, Families, and Healthcare Providers Work to Change Maternal Health Summit to be Held Oct 2-3

MELBOURNE, Fla., July 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The annual Champions for Change Summit, a forum for training maternal health advocates and patient/family partners, will take place October 2-3 as a virtual conference and will include a track for healthcare providers. More information and registration is available at www.mommasvoices.org/event.

The annual event, hosted by MoMMA's Voices a coalition representing 19 maternal health organizations, brings together survivors and/or their family members to learn to advocate for improvements in care, policies, and outcomes in maternal health. This year's addition of a healthcare provider component is a to foster patient/family partners and healthcare providers working together.

"Often patients and families, who have experienced an adverse outcome or complication of childbirth, want to be part of the solution.  Providers need their voice at the table," says Nicole Purnell, manager of MoMMA's Voices, "Likewise providers want to deliver quality care and often welcome patient/family partners but may not know how best to use them. That is where we come in - training (both parties) and matching them given their experiences and improvement initiatives."

At their recent national meeting, the National Network of Perinatal Quality Collaboratives (NNPQC) and the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) announced their goal is for each state Perinatal Quality Collaborative to include two or more patient/ family partners, in their initiatives by January 2021.

"Thanks to a partnership with the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM), a cooperative agreement between the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the educational track for healthcare providers will showcase best practices and deliver practical tips and strategies for engaging patient/family partners and will host a patient as partners recruitment expo allowing providers to highlight their projects and recruit patient/family partners," added Purnell.   

As a member of the NNPQC's Patient Family Advisory Committee, Purnell participated in the development of the Patient Family Engagement Driver Diagram, which defines the steps and processes for inclusion of patient/family partners in PQC leadership teams and serves as a living document in the quality improvement process.

For patient/family partners, the summit offers sessions on telling your story, how to work with the media, leveraging social media, participating in provider education, serving state, regional and national organizations, trends in maternal care,  and understanding quality improvement projects. Registration for the Champions for Change Summit opens on July 27 for more information visit www.mommasvoices.org/event

Media Contact:
Valerie Holloway                                                                                
321.421.6957
[email protected] 

SOURCE Preeclampsia Foundation