Tennessee Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) Project Abstract Component A ? Core Surveillance Surveillance Project Summary The Tennessee (TN) Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) is a collaborative project with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) to monitor state-specific population-based maternal attitudes, behaviors and experiences within the state of Tennessee. While TN PRAMS has participated in these surveillance efforts for more than eight years, additional efforts have been identified that will improve response rates and the dissemination of data. Five-year Goals and Objectives In the next five years, TN PRAMS will continue monitoring maternal behaviors before, during, and after pregnancy that may influence birth outcomes. Additionally, we will concentrate on improving response rates by: (1) increasing awareness of surveillance activities throughout the state, particularly in the urban/rural areas identified as experiencing high rates of poor maternal health outcomes, and (2) expanding the dissemination of PRAMS data by partnering with key stakeholders to identify those in need of surveillance data to support their public health intervention efforts. Resources The TN PRAMS Project is a combined effort among the Division of Policy, Planning, and Assessment?s Offices of Surveillance, Epidemiology & Evaluation (SEE), Vital Records (VR), and Healthcare Statistics (HS); TDH?s Division of Family Health and Wellness (FHW), and the CDC. VR provides samples from electronic birth certificates, FHW provides expertise in the area of mothers and infants under study, and SEE provides staff and resources for implementation, data analysis and dissemination. TN PRAMS is staffed by two full time positions: a program coordinator (1/2 grant and state funded) and a data manager (1/2 grant and state funded). The Director of SEE, a MCH epidemiologist, provides leadership as the Principal Investigator. The Director of FHW, a physician, directs the Title V MCH Block Grant than plays a key role in the provision of maternal and child health services in Tennessee. All offices work together in one collaborative effort to fulfill the TN PRAMS grant goals. Analysis Plan, Evaluation & Dissemination Over the next five years, TN PRAMS will generate reports and fact sheets for publication on the TDH website. Additionally, TN PRAMS will support FHW?s ongoing efforts to improve maternal health behaviors, such as the state safe sleep initiative (Welcome Baby). TN PRAMS provides prevalence estimates and trends of TN babies? sleeping positions, mothers? behaviors and knowledge of suitable sleeping behaviors. Evaluation is conducted throughout the lifetime of the project as set forth by the PRAMS model supplied by the CDC. To date, TDH has successfully completed and submitted eight full years of data (2007 to 2014). The ninth year of data collection is currently in process.
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