VON for Health Equity
VON teams act on our ethical responsibility to follow through for infants and families.
What does it mean to follow through?
Health and well being are largely determined by race, ethnicity, income, immigration status, and local neighborhood. The effects are pronounced for infants in NICU care.
There is much that we can and must do to address the social determinants of health.
“Follow through” is a comprehensive approach that begins before birth and continues into childhood involving health professionals, families, and communities as partners to meet the social as well as medical needs of infants and families.
VON teams are dedicated to follow through to address the social determinants of health with the same energy and expertise that we devote to the technical aspects of care.
Health Equity Innovation Grant
The VON Take Action to Follow Through grant program supported the development of innovative programs to confront health inequities. The Potentially Better Practices at the core of the grant program are central to the VON improvement programs – NICQ and iNICQ – focusing on improving care for all infants and families.
Presentations and Videos
The State of Our Network – The Next Challenge: Following Through, Jeffrey Horbar
From 2019 VON Annual Quality Congress “Color of Health” sessions.
The Color of Law: How Our Government Segregated America, Richard Rothstein
From 2019 VON Annual Quality Congress “Color of Health” sessions.
Healthcare Crisis for Mothers and Babies of Color, Elizabeth Howell
From 2019 VON Annual Quality Congress “Color of Health” sessions.
Practical Interventions to Address Racial/Ethnic Inequity, Yolanda Ogbolu
From 2019 VON Annual Quality Congress “Color of Health” sessions.
The Color of Health - Our Story, Natasha Beauchamp and Marquita Turner
From 2019 VON Annual Quality Congress “Color of Health” sessions.
Health Equity in the Age of Covid: Lessons from the Pandemic
Explore how COVID-19 affects the care of minority women and infants, including steps care teams can take to achieve health equity.
Related Publications
Boghossian NS, Geraci M, Edwards EM, Horbar JD. Changes in hospital quality at hospitals serving black and Hispanic newborns below 30 weeks’ gestation. J Perinatol. 2022;42(2): 187-194. PubMed: 34601491.
Edwards EM, Greenberg LT, Profit J, Draper D, Helkey D, Horbar JD. Quality of care in US NICUs by race and ethnicity. Pediatrics. 2021;148(2):e2020037622. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-037622. Epub 2021 Jul 22. PubMed: 34301773
Edwards EM, Horbar JD. Following through: Interventions to improve long-term outcomes of preterm infants. Semin Perinatol. 2021 Mar 21:151414. Epub ahead of print. PubMed: 33853737.
Horbar JD, Edwards EM, Ogbolu Y. Our responsibility to follow through for NICU infants and their families. Pediatrics. 2020;146(6):e20200360. PubMed: 32546582
Boghossian NS, Geraci M, Edwards EM, Ehret DEY, Saade GR, Horbar JD. Regional and racial-ethnic differences in perinatal interventions among periviable births. Obstet Gynecol. 2020;135(4):885-895. PubMed: 32168210
Beck AF, Edwards EM, Horbar JD, Howell EA, McCormick MC, Pursley DM. The color of health: how racism, segregation, and inequality affect the health and well-being of preterm infants and their families. Pediatr Res. 2019; epub ahead of print. PubMed: 31357209. Open access.
Horbar JD, Edwards EM, Greenberg LT, Profit J, Draper D, Helkey D, Lorch SA, Lee HC, Phibbs CS, Rogowski J, Gould JB, Firebaugh G. Racial segregation and inequality in the neonatal intensive care unit for very low-birth-weight and very preterm infants. JAMA Pediatr. 2019; epub ahead of print. PubMed: 30907924
Boghossian NS, Geraci M, Lorch SA, Phibbs CS, Edwards EM, Horbar JD. Racial and ethnic differences over time in outcomes of infants born less than 30 weeks’ gestation. Pediatrics. 2019 Aug 12; epub ahead of print. PubMed: 31405887.
Parker MG, Greenberg LT, Edwards EM, Ehret D, Belfort MB, Horbar JD. National trends in the provision of human milk at hospital discharge among very low-birth-weight infants. JAMA Pediatr. 2019 Sept 3; epub ahead of print. PubMed: 31479097.
Sigurdson K, Morton C, Mitchell B, Profit J. Disparities in NICU quality of care: a qualitative study of family and clinician accounts. J Perinatol. 2018;38(5):600-607. PubMed: 29622778
Lake ET, Staiger D, Edwards EM, Smith JG, Rogowski JA. Nursing care disparities in neonatal intensive care units. Health Services Research. 2017 Sept 14; Epub ahead of print. PubMed: 28905367
Lake ET, Staiger D, Horbar J, Kenny MJ, Patrick T, Rogowski JA. Disparities in perinatal quality outcomes for very low birth weight infants in neonatal intensive care. Health Serv Res. 2015;50(2):374-397. PubMed: 25250882
Morales LS, Staiger DO, Horbar JD, Carpenter J, Kenny M, Geppert J, Rogowski J. Mortality among very low birthweight infants in hospitals serving minority population. Am J Public Health. 2005;95(12): 2206-2212. PubMed: 16304133
Quality Improvement for Health Equity and Follow Through
Health equity and follow through are central to quality improvement.
VON Quality Circle members participating in improvement collaboratives (NICQ and iNICQ) take a structured and evidence-based approach to quality improvement, including incorporating VON Potentially Better Practices for Follow Through.
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