The Michigan State University Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Initiative and the Flint Odyssey House have been awarded a total of $100,000 in research and service “sister” grants from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. This community-academic team will evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Flint Odyssey House’s enhanced parenting services for pregnant and postpartum women receiving substance use disorder treatment in Flint and Saginaw, MI.
Specifically, these projects will investigate pandemic-era changes, including the large decrease in inpatient treatment compliance and the stronger-than-expected success with post-discharge follow-up outpatient services. The findings from these projects will be used to advise residential treatment services in Flint and Saginaw to increase the length of stay. The team will also identify the strongest evidence-based components of outpatient services to conduct a streamlined implementation trial in Port Huron, which lacks a residential facility or parenting services for pregnant and postpartum women receiving substance use disorder treatment.
Increasing access, affordability, and parenting support to those receiving substance use treatment could increase the ability to achieve various big-picture goals, such as improving quality of life by reducing children's mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, developing better parent-child relationships, and improving family functioning and well-being.
"Flint Odyssey House has collaborated on projects with my department for over a decade. They contribute to grant writing, implementation, and dissemination," said Karren Campbell, PhD, Faculty Research Specialist at the Michigan State University Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Initiative, Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health. "Community having a seat at the table exemplifies our joint commitment to improving residents' and children's lives and maximizes our ability to do so."
"This work, the population, and increasing well-being for mothers and their infants is critically important. The community-based participatory research approach highlights Michigan State University and the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health's commitment to complete parity and equity in working with the community," said Kristen Senters Young, MA, ICAADC, Director of Women's Specialty and Prevention Services at the Flint, Saginaw, and Port Huron Odyssey Houses. "Our work together is a model that can inspire other community providers to take on such projects if they see that partnerships are possible where both sides accomplish more when they meet in the middle."
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation funded the research (Program Evaluation and Port Huron Implementation) and service (Dissemination & Implementation Science) sister grants (also known as PEPI-DISc) for two years.
April 2, 2024
