strategic areas
Research and data
Explore and develop data collection methods, collaborations, and best practices in data sharing to more effectively assess the Ohio prevalence of perinatal mental health complications, screening rates and efficacy, and treatment and support networks. These methods must also include assessment of racial disparities and systemic barriers to care.
OBJECTIVES
Data Sharing and Collaboration
To ensure that policymakers, health systems, and community programs have shared access to both quantitative and qualitative data for the purpose of informing practices and service provision.
Data Collection and Modality
To enhance perinatal mental health research and data collection by incorporating inclusive qualitative and quantitative methods that take into account cultural influences, systemic barriers to care and technological access, as well as social factors.
Research Spectrum
To broaden research endeavors in perinatal mental health, covering the entire spectrum of mental well-being*, including perinatal loss, while adopting an anti-bias and inclusive approach, and integrating the lived experiences of individuals, communities, and cultures.
Research and Data Accessibility
To ensure that current data and research pertaining to perinatal mental health is made transparent and accessible through multiple modes of communication.
*In collaboration with the Ohio Council to Advance Maternal Health (OH-CAMH), and in consideration of the full spectrum of perinatal behavioral health - specifically Strategy 9: Invest in services for maternal substance use and mental health disorders.
public awareness
Strategize to create and distribute research-based, anti-bias, culturally responsive, and coordinated messaging and communication about perinatal mental health complications, including identification, treatment, and support options that combat stigma and recognize barriers to care.
OBJECTIVES
Provider Awareness
To ensure that care providers are equipped with and have readily accessible information enabling them to provide culturally responsive, anti-bias, and research-informed care and support to their patients and clients.*
Patient/Client Awareness
To empower patients or clients and their loved ones by providing them with easy access to education and data in perinatal mental health care, enabling them to make informed health decisions.
Distribution and Media
To ensure that education and awareness materials are readily available and accessible to all populations, both urban and rural, throughout the state of Ohio.
Spectrum of Care
To provide perinatal individuals, including thoe impacted by perinatal loss, with consistent and research-informed information regarding the entire range of perinatal mental health complications.
*In collaboration with the Ohio Council to Advance Maternal Health (OH-CAMH), and in consideration of the full spectrum of perinatal behavioral health - specifically Strategy 9: Invest in services for maternal substance use and mental health disorders.
screening and identification
Identify, promote, and distribute anti-bias, culturally responsive, research-based, and trauma-informed screening protocols and educational resources to equip screening providers with the tools and skills necessary to effectively screen. Resource screening providers with direct referral sources for perinatal mental health treatment and support. Ensure the availability of ongoing education and technical assistance related to perinatal mental health care.
OBJECTIVES
Provider Education
To offer Ohio care providers across all service sectors access to and opportunities for professional development and training in perinatal mental health complications and the delivery of services that are anti-bias and culturally responsive.
Patient and Client Education
To ensure that perinatal patients and clients* have a clear understanding of both the purpose and procedure involved in behavioral health screenings conducted by their care providers.
Screening Efficacy
To enhance the effectiveness of perinatal screenings in identifying risk, symptoms, and the requirement for intervention regarding perinatal mental health complications across the spectrum of culture and identity.
Screening Protocols
To implement screenings that are research-informed, based on anti-bias, anti-stigma, and culturally responsive approaches, standardized across healthcare providers and community service organizations, and include systematic referral and follow-up processes.
*In collaboration with the Ohio Council to Advance Maternal Health (OH-CAMH), and in consideration of the full spectrum of perinatal behavioral health - specifically Strategy 9: Invest in services for maternal substance use and mental health disorders.
treatment and support
Collaborate with providers, systems, and individuals with lived experience to assess the current availability of services and build anti-bias, culturally responsive, trauma-informed, and trust-centered care and support networks. Work to develop systems of compassionate care that consider current workforce shortages.
OBJECTIVES
Care Quality
To ensure that perinatal mental health treatment and support services, including those related to perinatal loss, are trauma-informed and anti-bias, and to facilitate providers’ access to the necessary education and structural supports required for delivering individualized and/or specialized care.
Care Access
To facilitate access for mothers and birthing persons to quality, specialized treatment and support options, without regard to insurance status or geographical location.
Care Spectrum
To ensure that mothers and birthing persons have access to the most suitable treatment and support options, encompassing all levels of inpatient and outpatient care.
Care Workforce
To advocate, in coordination with other stakeholders, for statewide workforce systems that meet the demand for perinatal care providers to support positive mental health outcomes.
In collaboration with the Ohio Council to Advance Maternal Health (OH-CAMH), and in consideration of the full spectrum of perinatal behavioral health - specifically Strategy 9: Invest in services for maternal substance use and mental health disorders.
policy and regulation
Support, promote, and resource policy and advocacy initiatives that streamline and operationalize screening practices, address barriers to equitable access and care, and support perinatal mental health providers and support services workforce. Protect funding for a statewide stakeholder group to address perinatal mental health and education.
OPMH Policy Agenda 2024.pdfPolicy Agenda development in collaboration with Mind the Gap Policy Series.