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Virtual Grantee Meeting 2021 – Day Two
November 3, 2021
One of the best parts of in-person conferences was arriving early, grabbing some coffee, and chatting with other attendees. While we couldn’t convene in-person this year, we still wanted to provide an opportunity for casual connection and conversation at the Virual Healthy Start Grantees’ Meeting (VGM). As a result, we held JavaTalks from 10:15-11 am ET each morning of the VGM. Attendees were invited to join a JavaTalk room to meet other meeting attendees, including fellow Healthy Start grantees, DHSPS staff, TA & Support Center staff, and other partners. These sessions were not moderated. They were truly an opportunity to have organic conversations, network, and make connections before we began our formal programming for the day.
Each morning of the Healthy Start Virtual Grantees’ Meeting, Shayla Collins of Rain or Shine Consulting provided a 15-minute mindfulness session for attendees. These sessions explored “Compassion on the Go” practices, or mindfulness practices that can be quickly woven into your existing daily routine. We all deserve a moment for ourselves, and often time is limited. These accessible practices can be used to support your overall well-being, as well as the well-being of the families you serve.
By the end of the session, participants will:
- Learn mindfulness practices that can be done anywhere and anytime
- Develop an understanding of the personal nature of mindfulness and strategies for customizing mindfulness to fit their needs
- Understand the importance of dedicating time in our days for self-care.
Speakers:
Shayla Collins, Mindfulness Facilitator, Rain or Shine Consulting, Seattle WA
Plenary Sessions
During this welcome session, attendees heard an introduction from leadership at the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services, National Institute for Children’s Health Quality, and National Healthy Start Association.
Speakers:
Michael Warren Associate Administrator, Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Lee Wilson Director, Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services (DHSPS), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Benita Baker, MS Healthy Start Branch Chief, Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services (DHSPS), Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
Scott D. Berns, MD, MPH, FAAP President and Chief Executive Officer, National Institute for Children’s Health Quality (NICHQ)
In honor of the 30th anniversary of the Healthy Start program, we kicked off the first day of the Virtual Grantees’ Meeting with a History of Healthy Start! This session featured Deborah Frazier, CEO of the National Healthy Start Association; Dr. Louis Sullivan who was the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services when Healthy Start was founded; and Dr. Thurma McCann Goldman, who was the first-ever Director of the Division of Healthy Start (now the Division of Healthy Start and Perinatal Services). The speakers shared their unique connections to Healthy Start, in addition to providing a historical perspective on the program’s 30 years of giving women, infants, and families a healthy start.
By the end of the session, participants will:
- Understand how and why Healthy Start was founded
- Understand the role of the Division of Healthy Start in the program
- Understand the role of NHSA in the program.
Speakers:
Deborah Frazier Chief Executive Officer, National Healthy Start Association
(NHSA)
Louis W. Sullivan, MD Founding President of the Morehouse School of Medicine, Former Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS
Thurma McCann Goldman
Black children have always suffered outrageously high rates of illness, disability, and death. It is important not to accept this as a sad norm, but to recognize this carnage as a manufactured product of four centuries of medical indifference and abuse. The challenges facing America’s children of color are key to identifying real issues to craft the best possible solutions. Unfortunately, we have long been mired in medical mythologies about black children and their parents, from negative assumptions about parental fitness to outrageous mythologies such as ‘crack babies’. More subtle errors also separate children from health, such as the assumption to not include them in therapeutic clinical trials of medications or the blindness to the key role of environmental stressors in their health and brain development. Current research has pointed the ways to more accurate and efficient strategies, but we must be careful to purge the unexamined mythologies that hinder us from pursuing those steps and policies that will restore our children to full health.
By the end of the session, participants will:
- Be able to cite, with examples, three medical myths that still affect the healthcare rendered to contemporary black children.
- Explore and be able to cite three discoveries that help rehabilitate the perception of black parents.
- Learn three important contemporary health issues that require greater attention from medical researchers and the healthcare system.
- Cite three health policies that will facilitate the reduction of racism and racial bias in the US healthcare system.
Speakers:
Harriet A. Washington, MA Award-winning Medical Writer, Editor, and Medical Ethicist
Breakout Sessions
Plenary
The Healthy Start program has made incredible progress and accomplished tremendous work over the past 30 years. The program’s success would not be possible without its various collaborations and partnerships on the community and national levels. Similarly, the Women’s & Infant Health team at the
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP) also works collaboratively with partners at the federal, state, and local levels to positively impact the health of women, infants, and children. This session will provide an overview of AMCHP and discuss key projects in the Women’s & Infant Health team’s portfolio. Specifically, the speakers will emphasize areas where Healthy Start Grantees are needed and necessary participants and collaborators.
By the end of the session, participants will:
- Identify AMCHP as a key partner in the work of Healthy Start grantees
- Describe key national initiatives to address maternal and infant mortality, working in alignment with Healthy Start.
Speakers:
Kristina Wint, MPH Program Manager, Women’s Health, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP)
Jessica Stieger Program Manager, Infant Health, Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs (AMCHP)