HHS launches nationwide public awareness campaign highlighting maternal mental health hotline
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced this week a new nationwide campaign to raise the public’s awareness of the National Maternal Mental Health Hotline (1-833-TLC-MAMA).
The hotline, launched on Mother’s Day in 2022, is a free confidential service for pregnant women and mothers, offering 24/7 support from trained counselors via call and text in English, Spanish, and translation services in over 60 languages.
HHS underscored that mental health conditions are the leading cause of pregnancy-related deaths, and more than 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable.
RELATED: The crisis continues: Maternal mortality rates in the US remain highest among high-income nations
The hotline aims to provide support to pregnant women and new mothers struggling with mental health and address the ongoing maternal health crisis across the nation.
For the new hotline campaign, HHS plans to collaborate with companies and organizations such as retailers, grocery stores, pharmacies, and health and community associations to raise awareness of mental health resources available for moms and pregnant women in everyday locations.
“Becoming a parent is an incredible and life-changing event, but it comes with its own challenges too. As a parent, husband to an OB-GYN, and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, I know we can and must do more to support maternal mental health,” said HHS Secretary Becerra in a statement. “In just two years, we’ve seen how the Maternal Mental Health Hotline has been a positive and productive resource for thousands of new parents. Today we’re building on those efforts through a targeted campaign to reach even more moms and let them know there is help and support during even the hardest of times.”
RELATED: Women’s health care in the US continues to tell the same sad story
HHS also announced the first six Maternal Mental Health Champions who have committed to actively promoting 1-833-TLC-MAMA to their customers, users, or members, including:
· Albertsons companies, with over 2,200 stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia, such as Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen, Carrs, Kings Food Markets, and Balducci's Food Lovers Market.
· Babylist, which was used by 97 million people in 2023 to access products and services across commerce, media, and health for growing families.
· Children’s Hospital Association, which represents more than 200 children’s hospitals across the country.
· CVS Health, which serves 185 million people across Aetna, CVS Pharmacy, MinuteClinic, CVS Caremark, Oak Street Health, and Signify Health.
· National Diaper Bank Network, which includes over 240 diaper bank programs assisting families in 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
· Walgreens, with nearly 9,000 stores across all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Study: Digital intervention reduces childhood obesity
A health-literacy informed digital intervention can reduce early childhood obesity, according to a recent study published by JAMA Network.
The study, given the high prevalence of obesity among racial and ethnic minority groups, sought to examine the effectiveness of adding a digital childhood obesity prevention tool—in this case a responsive text messaging and web-based dashboard—to health behavior counseling provided by pediatric primary care clinicians to encourage healthy growth throughout the first two years of a child’s life.
The study, which was conducted at six U.S. medical centers and included 900 children, found the digital intervention to improve child weight-for-length trajectory across the first 24 months of life and reduce childhood obesity at 24 months.
The researchers also noted the digital intervention was effective in a racially and ethnically diverse population, which included groups with an elevated risk for childhood obesity.
HHS: $44M in funding to support families’ financial well-being
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) has announced approximately $44 million in grants through two ACF program offices, including the Office of Community Services (OCS) and the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS), to improve the financial well-being of children and families.
OCS will award a total of $18 million in Community Economic Development grants to 30 recipients, which will be used for business development and the creation of jobs for individuals with low incomes. OCS is also awarding $2 million in Affordable Housing and Supportive Services Demonstration grants to nine recipients to be used toward support services for residents of adorable housing to promote individual and family safety, stability, and economic mobility.
“Economic security and the health and well-being of families are inextricably linked,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “This funding will contribute to affordable housing and employment services for families and provide critical investments in communities that need it most. The Biden-Harris Administration will continue to invest and implement support services that help American families and improve their financial security.”
The funding also includes:
· The fourth cohort of the Diaper Distribution Pilot of $8.4 million in grant awards to expand diaper distribution
· Supplemental awards totaling $7.5 million to 13 recipients from the first two cohorts of the Diaper Distribution Pilot
· The OCSS is also awarding $4.7 million to six state and two tribal child support agencies to implement the Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration (NextGen) to improve child support-led employment services for noncustodial parents
· ACF awarded $3.4 million to one state for the Technical Assistance and Evaluation of NextGen with the goal of providing technical assistance and evaluate the NextGen demonstration projects