Research Project Summary

CPIC states that inadequate coordination among providers, community advocates, and other stakeholders is a major barrier to preventive care. Prenatal care providers typically shoulder the burden of PMAD risk identification and care linkage. This model is untenable as typically there is inadequate support from mental health professionals to identify and help high-risk patients and community advocates with expert knowledge of existing community resources. Consequently, high-risk pregnant individuals commonly go unidentified, are lost in hectic clinic workflows, or receive impractical referrals (e.g., clinics with exceedingly long waitlists).

Research Project Goals

We propose to remedy this by (a) embedding dedicated mental health specialists into prenatal care settings to reduce burden on prenatal care providers, (b) establishing partnerships with community mental health advocacy groups to ensure that referral pathways are comprehensive and up-to-date, and (c) working collaboratively with community stakeholders to identify resource gaps and co-develop new services.

Research Project Objectives

Aim 1. Demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of embedding prevention specialists in prenatal care clinics affiliated with Cooper Health System. We will conduct a single-arm feasibility trial (N=28). Participants will be (1) pregnant, (2) have a history of PMADs but subclinical current symptoms, and (3) reside in Camden or neighboring South Jersey communities. With clinic staff support, prevention specialists will recruit patients reporting PMAD histories in their intake paperwork. Prevention specialists will be supervised master’s level clinical psychology trainees who have completed perinatal mental health certification training. The intervention (30 minutes) will occur within prenatal clinics while patients wait for care or virtually if needed/preferred. Aim 2. Identify gaps in perinatal mental health care with patient representatives and community stakeholders. We will conduct focus groups with Camden residents who experienced past-year PMADs (Aim2a) and hold a larger community forum open to all community members (Aim 2b). Recruitment flyers will be placed in prenatal/pediatric clinics in Camden and throughout the community. Additionally, we will advertise through PSI-NJ’s extensive network.