Ohio Perinatal Mental Health TAsk Force
TEAM WORKSPACE
MEMBER NEWS
Thank you for your engagement with our Spring 2024 Strategic Area Action Team meetings, as well as your asynchronous participation on our action team collaborative documents.
Below is a summary of projects in progress in our SAATs and how you can get involved in the coming months. The OPMH Task Force will reconvene as a collective this summer, though progress on the below projects will be in progress through individual SAATs ongoing.
Interested in proposing or leading an OPMH Task Force project? Contact balexander@mhaohio.org.
RESEARCH AND DATA
Statewide Environmental Data Scan
The OPMH Task Force identified a need to systematically assess and catalog the existence and accessibility of relevant data pertinent to Ohio and will conduct a statewide environmental data scan using social determinants of health and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) lenses.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED: Mighty Crow will conduct a minimum of 8 statewide stakeholder focus groups comprised of 8-10 participants (including OPMH Task Force members) from all 5 major Ohio regions. Contact datascan@mightycrow.com to express your interest in participating in a focus group.
PUBLIC AWARENESS
Awareness Campaign for Black Birthing Persons and Providers
Key messaging for this campaign: Black mothers and birthing persons face higher rates of maternal mortality and increased complications that extend beyond pregnancy. Research has shown that Black mothers and birthing persons report feeling afraid to report mental health concerns and needs due to fears of stigma and feelings of shame and worry that Child Protective Services will be used against them.
Birthing Persons: Remember that you are the center of your circle of care and that you can trust yourself to know how you’re feeling and the kind of care you need.
Providers: You can play a major role in the circle of your patients' care by providing compassionate care when they need it most.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED: This campaign’s launch target is summer 2024, but we need your feedback, ideas, and involvement to ensure we have the assets and distribution required to make the campaign successful. Collaborate by sharing your ideas and desire to contribute to this shared document.
SCREENING AND IDENTIFICATION
Screening Protocol for Black Birthing Persons
This framework for culturally responsive screening was created in collaboration with Black birthing people, Black birth workers, perinatal service providers throughout Ohio, Karen Sheffield-Abdullah, PhD, RN, CNM, and the POEM Program of Mental Health America of Ohio. A literature review and primary data from focus groups and interviews with Black birthing persons and birth workers/clinicians also inform recommendations. This background research highlighted the following barriers to effective screening for risk of perinatal mental health conditions with Black birthing individuals:
How questions in current screening tools are phrased or asked
Screening tools not being validated by ethnicity, cultural context, or various perinatal phases
Low trust/confidence among Black individuals in provider or health care systems
Fear of Child Protective Services or other entities using a mental health need to remove children from homes
Cultural and community-based stigmas surrounding mental health
HOW TO GET INVOLVED: The screening protocol briefing and single-page reference document is complete. We need your assistance in distribution and contact for appropriate sites and providers that coordinate screening for and screen perinatal people. Collaborate by sharing your ideas and desire to contribute to this shared document
POLICY AND REGULATION
Ohio Perinatal Mental Health Day of Advocacy
How can I bring an existing or new project to the OPMH Task Force?
OPMH Task Force projects are organized within each SAAT. An OPMH Task Force project can be:
A project in progress at your single organization for which you would like the task force to provide support and/or resources
A new project that task force planned, organized, and developed by task force members
A new or existing collaborative project amongst organizations for which the task force can provide support and/or resources
Project Requirements:
Must align with at least one established Strategic Area and Objective
Must align with the task force’s established Collective Values
Must consider inclusivity and access
In planning and execution, must include feedback from individuals with lived experience, individuals who could be affected by the project, and those in direct service to perinatal people.
Please contact Becca Alexander (balexander@mhaohio.org) with questions about this process.
Join us on World Maternal Mental Health Day - May 1st, 2024 - for an Ohio Perinatal Mental Health Day of Advocacy. During the day, advocates will meet with legislators to discuss perinatal mental health related issues and initiatives.
An evening reception with drinks and appetizers will follow from 5-7pm.
PLEASE RSVP at the button below for the evening reception.
RSVPs for legislator meetings are now closed.
All individuals who plan to attend must submit an RSVP form.
Thank you for your participation in the development of the OPMH Task Force Policy Agenda.
We continue to make progress in adding action steps for the Ohio Perinatal Mental Health Policy Agenda and we anticipate 2024 will be a productive year. Please take a moment to review our action items on the Policy Agenda action plan HERE and add any additional items to the list under the each priority by end of day Friday, January 19th.
Also, please add your name under any existing list items to which you would like to contribute. After this document closes on 1/12, our team will review it and organize the item lists and team members to eliminate duplication and begin working on timelines. You will hear from us again in January of 2024.
OPMH Task Force Policy Agenda Action Plan
12/13 Session Recording – Enter passcode Fyk3#66a
OPMH Policy Agenda 2024.pdfOPMH Task Force Policy Agenda
Click on the image to view the Ohio Perinatal Mental Health Task Force's Policy Agenda, developed in collaboration with Mind the Gap's Policy Series.
Our Collective Values
EQUITY AND INCLUSIVITY
We ensure that equity is at the center of all of our strategies and that decision-making occurs through an antiracist, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed lens.
We recognize that sustainable change happens when the people affected are involved in decision-making, and we commit to ensuring those voices are part of each strategy.
We promote and use language that recognizes all people that become pregnant, give birth, and/or experience the postpartum period, including those who have experienced a loss or those who have adopted children.
COMMUNITY
We protect the confidentiality of each member in our shared spaces.
We welcome and value all member perspectives, and, in doing so, create a collaborative environment free of harm.
We foster spaces where all perspectives are given equitable space and time for sharing.
We value member well-being over progress.
PROFESSIONALISM
We integrate current data and best practices in our strategies.
We uphold ethical practices in each profession that is represented by our membership.
We commit to transparency in our collaborative actions, and we value other strategies’ feedback on those actions.