Healthcare Delivery Award for Stony Brook Children’s Hospital’s Keeping Families Healthy program. The award was presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in San Francisco, CA, on May 7, during the APA Membership Meeting.
The award acknowledges Dr. Pati’s innovation in linking Stony Brook Children’s patient-centered medical home approach with the community, engaging learners at multiple levels, and conducting academic work in concert with care delivery to at-risk children.
Keeping Families Healthy is a free community health worker (CHW) home visitation program that has demonstrated a positive impact on the outcomes of children’s health. Patients under age 18 who are deemed “at risk” by Stony Brook clinicians, including newborns and children with chronic conditions such as asthma and obesity, are referred to the program. The program coordinator and trained CHWs act as a bridge between clinicians and patients.
Established in 2011, the program’s goals are to clarify with families ways to seek appropriate medical treatment, empower families to be prepared for doctors’ appointments, facilitate families understanding of the doctors’ recommendations, facilitate families’ creation of systems to keep track of their child’s medical information, identify and address barriers to obtaining healthcare, connect families with local community resources, and provide appropriate health education.
“Keeping Families Healthy is a proven innovative model to address health disparities and improve health outcomes by leveraging the strengths of inter-professional academic training programs that can be extended to other populations, such as the elderly and adults with chronic disease,” Dr. Pati said.
Participating families receive tailored home visits and phone/text message support from CHWs until they are comfortable independently managing their children’s medical needs. The program is being offered throughout Suffolk County for patients ages 0-26 with asthma to reduce their utilization of the hospital and the Emergency Department.