State Data and Assessment Technical Assistance (DATA) Mini-Grant Program, 2005-2009
State Mini-Grants
With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, AMCHP is offered competitive mini-grants to state and territorial departments of maternal and child health (MCH) and children with special health care needs (CSHCN) to enhance staff capacity to translate MCH data into action.
Purpose
The objective of the State Data and Assessment Technical Assistance (DATA) Mini-Grant Program is to increase the ability of state MCH/CSHCN professionals to use epidemiology and surveillance data to support policies and programs that serve MCH populations. Desired products and outcomes from DATA include: 1) tools and training materials that increase knowledge and skills in MCH data and assessment; 2) diffusion of best practices in the collection, analysis and use of MCH data; and 3) increased state capacity to translate MCH data into action. This program took place between 2005-2009.
Data mini-grants addressed one or more of the following technical areas:
- Data Collection & Analysis: identification of data elements critical to building, monitoring and maintaining systems of care for maternal and child populations; assessment of which data elements are readily available; development of mechanisms to collect data from a variety of national and state data sources.
- Cost-Effectiveness & Cost Benefit Analysis: analysis of the cost benefit and/or cost-effectiveness of specific MCH services or the economic impact of health conditions affecting MCH populations.
- Electronic Data Organization & Transfer: identification and resolution of data transfer confidentiality issues; using on-line databases and query systems; database training.
- Data & Surveillance Systems Development: utilization and/or development of health data and surveillance systems (e.g., PRAMS; YRBS; birth defects and immunization registries); data linkage.
- MCH Epidemiology: monitoring of MCH-specific diseases, injuries, and health conditions for their frequency, risk factors, consequences, and health service requirements; analysis of MCH epidemiological data sets.
- Needs Assessment: systematic assessment, analysis, and projection of health needs and resources in a given population or community; identification and utilization of traditional health data resources such as vital statistics, health surveys, and demographic data to identify MCH needs.
- Performance Measures & Indicators: developing, tracking or reporting on individual or collective health measures and indicators (e.g., MCHB performance measures; health status indicators; Healthy People 2010 objectives).
- Program Evaluation: techniques to design meaningful process and outcome evaluation plans, indicators and tools; program data monitoring, collection, and analysis to determine if services should be altered, continued or eliminated.
- Quality Assurance: identification of process and outcome standards as benchmarks to monitor the quality of care; developing mechanisms to collect and analyze these data; instituting systems through which data can be used to improve quality of care.
- Small Area Analysis: use of large administrative databases to obtain population-based measures of utilization and resource allocation; measuring variations and comparing rates of health care use among MCH populations.