Healthy People Consortium Meeting
"Implementing Healthy People 2010"
November 11, 2000

Summary of Breakout Group Discussion Concerning:
Maternal and Child Health

1. What does implementing Healthy People 2010 mean to you?
Did not have time to discuss this.

2. How do you suggest we work with local community groups in implementing the Healthy People 2010 objectives?

• Use social marketing targeted to each SPECIFIC community.
• Communicate ideas of Healthy People 2010 in bite-size pieces.
• Bring Healthy People 2010 to small groups led by community leaders/key informants (can use the popular 'adult education' and empowerment models) to tie Healthy People 2010 to generative issues in the community.
• Carefully select which communities to be targeted.
• Ask community groups simple questions such as "What's your most pressing health issue?" and then tie to Healthy People 2010 objectives rather than trying to get community to communicate their needs/concerns in the Healthy People 2010 framework.
• Involve business and faith communities, as well as States.
• Use Rotary Club Polio Eradication Model.
• Get well-organized nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to adopt Healthy People 2010 objectives in their local communities, as they apply to individual NGO's mission (e.g., United Way, American Academy of Pediatrics, ACOG) also get individual members to spread the word--especially useful within associations of health professionals and among their patients.
• Have the NGOs publicize their adoption of Healthy People 2010--raise awareness.
• Related to this, link Healthy People 2010 sections on your main Web site to the sites of partner organizations (e.g., as ACOG becomes a partner in the MCH objectives, link that section on the Healthy People 2010 Web site to ACOG's site).
• Facilitate connections between all organizations that have adopted Healthy People 2010 as a goal: NGOs, the States, faith communities, and businesses. Providing computers to grassroots organizations can help facilitate this--inexpensive way to network. Build funding and flexibility into the structure of administering Healthy People 2010. Longitudinally: PUBLISH on the experience of coordinating all this, especially any data collected in relation to the coordination/outreach effort.

3. What are the challenges/barriers to meeting the Healthy People 2010 objectives? And how do you suggest we work to overcome them?

• Overcoming systemic "isms"; to this end, need to educate MCH professionals themselves about the difference between race and ethnicity--these classifications were misunderstood. 
• The MCH chapter in particular is too general. Needs to be broken down into manageable pieces; suggested by MCH group member: break down child health objectives by age; "10-24" too large a spread.
• Need "lifespan view" to ease communicating Healthy People 2010 to communities. A Healthy People 2010 database on the Web could help with this last point (along the lines of MCHB's new Title V Information System on the Web).
• Communities/States/Feds do not all perceive the meaning of the indicators/objectives in the same way; there is a disconnect.
• Need Continuing Education Units for Nurses/PAs/MDs regarding the correlation between child development problems and environmental exposures.

4. What can we do to support the elimination of health disparities among racial and ethnic population groups?

• Publish a companion document on the influence of systemic "isms" on the progress of Healthy People 2010.

5. How do we measure the progress of Healthy People 2010 in the future? And what is progress? 

• To evaluate progress in HEALTH OBJECTIVES: 
  • Look at the indicators in 2005 (mid-term review) and again in 2010 (end-of-term review).
• To evaluate progress in IMPLEMENTATION SYSTEMS: 
  • Have a 3-day conference devoted entirely to discussing effective and tried-but-didn't-work efforts to implement Healthy People 2010 and generate improvements in health indicators at all levels: community, State, Federal. Publish a best-and-worst practices document on these methods. Survey leaders and members of health professional associations: have they developed and distributed practice guidelines to their members or the health community at large to detail how to reach Healthy People 2010 objectives in their area of interest?
• To evaluate progress in Healthy People 2010 AWARENESS: 
  • Examine media representation; how many times was Healthy People 2010 mentioned in a local news broadcast? National news broadcast? Local newspaper? National newspaper? Professional journals? Other media sources?

6. How can we work more effectively with the media in implementing the Healthy People 2010 objectives?

• Offer classes in advocacy, social marketing, and media interaction at the next Healthy People 2010 Consortium/APHA.
• Produce population-specific television ads.
• Be succinct in all interactions with the media. Recognize that cultural barriers may exist between NGOs and the media--professional culture, racial/ethnic culture, etc. Try and surmount these barriers by being aware of when and why they exist.
• Capitalize on all opportunities to raise awareness among the media about Healthy People 2010 and its objectives.
• Those responsible for media issues surrounding Healthy People 2010 should employ someone with much media savvy; consider the RN who crafted the "Designated Driver" campaign to fight drunk driving. One MCH session participant suggested her and felt she is probably still working in public health.

Back to Consortium 2000 Table of Contents