Inventory of Evidence-Based Practices (EBPs) for Healthy Start Programs
Evidence-based practices include actions, activities, strategies, or approaches that improve the health of women, before, during, and after pregnancy in order to improve birth outcomes and give infants up to age two years a healthy start. Also included in the collection are informational materials and tools that make it easier to implement evidence-based practices. To search by title, use the main search box located at the top of this page.
Often referred to as “The Fourth Trimester,” the weeks after birth are a critical time for a woman and her infant, setting the stage for long-term health and well-being. This comprehensive toolkit, with an introduction by Dr. Haywood Brown, includes extensive resources on the key components of postpartum care, including support for new mothers, reproductive life planning, infant care, counseling for substance use, long-term weight management, and many more pertinent topics. It also features a sample postpartum checklist for women to complete.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Chronic Disease Depression Healthy Weight Immunization Intimate Partner Violence Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Safe Sleep Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Intimate Partner Violence Perinatal Depression Follow Up Perinatal Depression Screening Postpartum Visit Reproductive Life Plan Safe Sleep Smoking Abstinence Sustaining Breastfeeding
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
This update of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment is intended to address addiction to a wide variety of drugs, including nicotine, alcohol, and illicit and prescription drugs. It is designed to serve as a resource for healthcare providers, family members, and other stakeholders trying to address the myriad problems faced by patients in need of treatment for drug abuse or addiction. It provides an overview of principles of effective treatment and evidence-based approaches to treatment, including behavioral therapies, pharmacotherapies and comprehensive approached. It discusses the unique needs of different groups including women, pregnant women and adolescents.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Case Management/Care Coordination Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
The NIDA Quick Screen is a validated instrument designed to assist providers in screening adults for substance use. The screen simply inquires whether a participant has used drugs (mood-altering, illegal, or prescription for nonmedical reasons), alcohol, or tobacco products within the past year and how often these substances have been used. The NIDA website also provides guidelines for brief intervention and/or treatment referral for patients who may have or be at risk of developing a substance use disorder.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Risk Assessment Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
MothertoBaby is the leading authority providing up-to-date, evidence-based information to mothers, healthcare professionals, and the general public regarding the effects of medications and other exposures on pregnancy and breastfeeding. The website contains fact sheets in English and Spanish covering the risks of over 50 pharmaceuticals (listed alphabetically), herbal products, and other common lifestyle and occupational exposures. Excellent sections on tobacco, alcohol, and mood-altering drugs are included, as well as information on the safety of vaccines during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Experts are also available to answer individual questions confidentially by telephone, email, or text.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Breastfeeding Immunization Prenatal Care and Education Risk Assessment Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Initiating Breastfeeding Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Annual well-woman visits provide an excellent opportunity for health maintenance and preventive care, including preconception and interconception counseling. Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, Medicaid and most private insurance plans cover these visits without copay. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists released these guidelines on recommended components of the annual visit based on previous evidence-based guidelines, current expert opinion, and the recommendations of a multidisciplinary task force. Recommendations on screening, laboratory tests, evaluation and counseling, and immunizations are organized into the age ranges 13-18, 19-45, 46-64, and >64.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Chronic Disease Depression Healthy Weight Immunization Intimate Partner Violence Nutrition Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning Risk Assessment STDs including HIV Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health
Benchmarks:
Well Woman Visits
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
4Ps Plus© is the first validated instrument that has been developed to screen for alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drug use; depression; and domestic violence, specifically in pregnant women. In addition, brief intervention strategies, grounded in motivational interviewing techniques, are integrated into the screening process. “I am concerned…” is an interactive, multisensory psychoeducational approach that takes about five minutes and is administered to all women who are found through the screening process to be using alcohol, tobacco, or illicit drugs.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Depression Intimate Partner Violence Prenatal Care and Education Risk Assessment Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence Perinatal Depression Screening Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
II. Promising practices—Innovative practices employed in the field, based on state-of-science knowledge about what works to improve outcomes, and gathering evidence of effectiveness.
The ASSIST (Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test) is an 8-item questionnaire designed to be administered by a health worker to a client using paper and pencil, and takes about 5-10 minutes to administer. The ASSIST provides information about the substances people have ever used in their lifetime; those used in the past three months; problems related to substance use; risk of current or future harm; dependence; and injecting drug use. The ASSIST was designed to be culturally neutral and usable across a variety of cultures.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Promote Quality
Benchmarks:
Smoking Abstinence
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
Men’s portion of the CDC’s information on preconception health and health care. Includes information on making a reproductive life plan for men, preventing and treating sexually transmitted diseases, tobacco and drug cessation, infertility, maintaining a healthy weight, learning about family history, getting help for violence, getting mentally healthy, and supporting one’s partner.
Topics:
Alcohol/Drug Services Chronic Disease Depression Healthy Weight Intimate Partner Violence Partner Involvement Reproductive Life Planning/Family Planning STDs including HIV Tobacco Cessation
Approaches:
Improve Women's Health Strengthen Family Resilience
Benchmarks:
Intimate Partner Violence Reproductive Life Plan
Evidence Rating:
III. Expert guidelines—Protocols, standards of practice, or recommendations based on expert consensus.
