Let's talk: a multisectoral strategy for connecting policy and practice to promote safe sleep education - the purpose of let's talk: a multisectoral strategy for connecting policy and practice to…

Let's talk: a multisectoral strategy for connecting policy and practice to promote safe sleep education - the purpose of let's talk: a multisectoral strategy for connecting policy and practice to promote safe sleep education is to assess the safe sleep policy guidance issued by national entities, such as the american academy of pediatrics (AAP) and the consumer product safety commission (cpsc), for the ways that they perpetuate racial disparities in infant mortality rates, and to develop and implement innovative, community-led practices to reduce racial disparities in black infant mortality rates in the atlanta, georgia region. Racial disparities in the rates of sudden unexpected infant death (suid) have clear roots in structural racism, with black parents facing barriers in access to quality care as well as broader issues related to social determinants of health like access to safe housing, employment, and transportation. Similarly, the ways that safe sleep recommendations are communicated to black families are mediated by quality of relationships with care providers and cultural pressures and norms. Let's talk will use the legal epidemiology framework in its assessment phase and will convene a multi-sector team of care providers and community members to create an action plan to put forward new policies and innovative practices. The goals of the project are to increase trusted linkages between black parents/caregivers and care providers in the prenatal and postnatal periods; increase safer sleep practices among black parents/caregivers; and increase access to supports for families in the prenatal and postnatal periods. Measurable outcomes include an increase in care providers who offer culturally responsive safe sleep education; an increase in parent/caregiver knowledge and behavior around safer sleep practices; and an increase in community capacity to provide safe sleep support and understand the linkages between systemic racism and health disparities. The innovative practices that are developed will include training for prenatal and postnatal car e providers in implicit bias, culturally competent care, and the rationale behind safe sleep recommendations; assessment of current formal and informal networks of care for black families to ensure they are receiving education and support; education and support for black parents/caregivers and community members; and provision of safe sleep resources (e.g. sleep sacks and portable cribs). Over the three-year project period, let's talk will directly educate 180 care providers, 1,920 parents/caregivers, and 480 community members. Let's talk will be implemented by first candle, a national nonprofit whose mission is to eliminate suid, with local support from healthy mothers, healthy babies coalition of georgia. Other committed partners include the georgia department of public health, emory decatur hospital, black child development institute - atlanta, and the center for black women's wellness. The program will be evaluated by the director of the morehouse school of medicine's center for maternal health equity using the RE-aim framework and results will be disseminated to community partners and through national networks to support the development of new local, state, and national policies.