Abstract
Pregnancy and early childhood pose unique sensitivity to stressors such as economic instability, poor mental health, and social inequities all of which have been magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic. In absence of protective buffers, prolonged exposure to excessive, early adversity can lead to poor health outcomes with significant impact lasting beyond the childhood years. Helping Us Grow Stronger (HUGS/Abrazos) is a community-based program, designed and launched at the time of the COVID-19 surge in the Spring of 2020, that combines emergency relief, patient navigation, and direct behavioral health support to foster family resilience and mitigate the negative impacts of COVID-related toxic stress on pregnant women and families with children under age 6. Through a targeted referral process, community health workers provide resource navigation for social needs, and a social worker provides behavioral health support. The use of innovative tools such as a centralized resource repository, community health workers with specialized knowledge in this age range, and a direct referral system seeks to assist in streamlining communication and ensuring delivery of quality care. We aim to serve over 300 families within the 1st year. The HUGS/Abrazos program aims to fill an important void by providing the necessary tools and interventions to support pregnant women and young families impacted by adversity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the health of parents and caregivers due to acute economic instability, social isolation, heightened health-related social needs, and increased responsibility over childcare and early childhood education in the setting of widespread child care and school disruptions and closures [1, 2]
We describe the design and implementation of HUGS/Abrazos, which aims to [1] provide pregnant women and young families who seek primary care at the Massachusetts General Hospital and affiliated community health care centers with resources and supports to help promote resilience and mitigate physical health, behavioral health, economic and other stressors that are likely to be exacerbated by the social isolation and economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and [2] build cross-systems linkages among community partners through the implementation of resource referral technology tools that facilitate closed loop communication between communitybased organizations and providers and to track referrals
There has never been more urgency than in providing the necessary tools and interventions to support families impacted by toxic stress exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the health of parents and caregivers due to acute economic instability, social isolation, heightened health-related social needs, and increased responsibility over childcare and early childhood education in the setting of widespread child care and school disruptions and closures [1, 2]. Families who live below the federal poverty level experience increased financial instability from losing already low wage jobs, while others are required to continue working as essential workers in unsafe conditions [9,10,11]. Oftentimes, these families live in densely populated and highly polluted neighborhoods, increasing their risk of contracting COVID-19 [12, 13]. COVID-19 exerts disparate impacts and exacerbates vulnerabilities in parents and families from already at-risk populations
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