Project Summary
The aim of the Central Jersey Postpartum Depression (PPD) Systems Improvement Project is to prepare researchers, patients, and stakeholders to collaborate as partners in planning a patient-centered outcomes research effort to improve PPD care for diverse patient populations in six counties in central New Jersey. Although PPD is widely considered a common complication of pregnancy and childbirth, there are important racial, ethnic, and income disparities in PPD’s onset and in access to timely, informed care. PPD services in New Jersey involve a complex and loosely connected network of providers across the care continuum. Accessing the system proves challenging for many patients. Forging a partnership from the outset with researchers, patients, health systems, and purchasers can drive meaningful and rapid systems changes. The following are proposed activities for the Tier A phase:
- Identify and engage patient survivors from outpatient postpartum support group programs.
- Convene researchers, patients, healthcare providers, healthcare purchasers, and healthcare payers three times:
- Introduce research partnership strategies and dissemination goals.
- Discuss findings from review of best practices, current system, and focus group interviews.
- Discuss research questions, identify preliminary comparative effectiveness research (CER) questions, and draft core aspects of the Tier B phase Letter of Intent (LOI).
- Provide two co-learning workshops in participatory translational research and CER methods.
- Map the networks of providers constituting the PPD service system.
- Review and summarize evidence reports, systematic reviews, and recommendations of professional societies on PPD screening and care.
- Conduct three focus group interviews to elicit patient and stakeholder perspectives.
- Prepare the Tier B phase LOI.