Browsing by Author "Reed, Samantha Alicia"

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Standardizing lactation education for home visiting staff to improve breastfeeding duration rates
(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2020) Reed, Samantha Alicia; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Angela Jukkala
Breastfeeding has been shown to improve short-and long-term health outcomes to both mother and child. Health departments are in a unique role to provide community level support in breastfeeding. Gallatin-City County Health Department provides breastfeeding support through multiple programs within the community, including maternal child health home visiting. Based on a recent survey, results showed that half of home visitors did not feel confident in educating prenatal clients on breastfeeding. In addition to this, home visitors did not feel they were providing the same education on breastfeeding. Stemming from this, the need for a standardized lactation curriculum was researched. Ready, Set, Baby is an evidence-based standardized curriculum that increases a mother's knowledge of breastfeeding benefits and practices. This scholarly project examines home visiting staff education on Ready, Set, Baby curriculum, improved breastfeeding education with home visiting families, and improved breastfeeding duration rates.
Standardizing translation services for home visiting staff to improve health equity among Latinx clients served by Gallatin city-county health department
(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Nursing, 2023) Reed, Samantha Alicia; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Elizabeth A. Johnson
On a national level, the Latinx population has grown by 43%, amounting to 57 million people as of 2020. On a local level, Montana is now home to 34,000 Spanish-speaking people, and the population is growing every year. Montana has seen an impact with the influx of Spanish Spanish-speaking populations in healthcare settings, and patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) are at a disadvantage to translation services, particularly in rural and frontier communities. Recently, the Gallatin City-County Health Department has experienced an influx in Latinx persons needing maternal child health home visiting services. Yet, with current translators in place, there is still a need for improved language access in care for waitlisted Spanish Spanish-speaking families. The goal of this quality improvement project is to implement a standardized interpretation process for Spanish Spanish-speaking families in need of maternal child health home visiting services. Technologies assessed include Time Kettle Translation Technology and the Language Link Live Translator Technology delivered on an iPad. A PDSA model for implementation was used, and multiple cycles for improvement were assessed. Results showed patient satisfaction and confidence level of 100% using Language Link Video Interpretation in contrast confidence and satisfaction level of 50% with Time Kettle eEar pPods. All patients were satisfied with the point of care they received with from the nurse or social worker based off on post -satisfaction survey results. Staff satisfaction and confidence level decreased with Time Kettle Ear Pods when used in the field as this could be related to reading from a script in comparison to a more natural conversation. Recommendations include improving staff support and education to adequality serve this population and continued assessment of the staff self-readiness to implement translation technology independently. Lastly, each staff member will have to determine whether technology is right for current needs and, if so, how to create a solution that pairs the best of technology with human capabilities.