Research Agenda Development

Maternity Care Coalition (MCC) recognized the importance of research in developing and testing effective strategies to address community-based problems and made a commitment to developing a research agenda. After obtaining support from a local Foundation, the organization hired a full-time, Ph.D. level Research Director to implement and grow a research agenda addressing the needs of pregnant and parenting women in low income Philadelphia communities. Academic partners have shown such strong interest in research collaborations that we established the Maternal and Child Health Research Consortium, dedicated to promoting community-academic engagement.

GrowthNational and International Interest

The “Mother’s Reentry Study” is an examination of the parenting experience of mothers leaving jail. MCC is leading a multi-disciplinary team of collaborators including a nurse, a social worker, a medical doctor and a criminologist from three universities. The next phase of the project is to study “successful community reentry”.

MCC hosted, in conjunction with nursing faculty at Drexel University, an international summit of visiting scholars from Israel, “Collaborations across borders: Improving maternal health locally & globally”. 

Research Consortium Membership• Mission: To facilitate the translation and dissemination of

effective strategies to address maternal and child health issues in the local community.

• Inter-disciplinary and cross-institutional • Approximately 40 members; 10+ institutions o

Successful Funded Research Collaborations MCC and psychologists from The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) collaborated on a successful NIMH R21 CBPR grant: “Facilitating Effective Referrals for Perinatal Depression” in which we developed a mental health referral intervention and are now revising the manual for community health workers to facilitate the entrance of women into the behavioral health system.

MCC and pediatrician-internists from Penn and CHOP implemented the “Postpartum Weight Management Study” with funding from Penn and Aetna Foundation, finding that two-way motivational text messaging and environmental aids can reduce weight and depression risk, and increase self-efficacy. The next step is a cost-effectiveness analysis and dissemination trial.

How to build a bridge for community-campus engagement: The Maternal and Child Health Research Consortium

Marjie Mogul , Ph.D. Director of Research and Evaluation

Maternity Care Coalition

Community Adoption

Clinical Trials

Bench Science

Community Based Center

Science

Clinical Trials

Community Trial

Community Adoption

COMMUNITY-ACADEMIC

ENGAGEMENT: Bringing Together Science and the

Community

Future

• Continue to lead collaborations to effectively disseminate scientific research into the community and engage community members in the research process

• Establish topical sub-groups, for example: incarceration and reentry, perinatal depression and health and wellness

• Create a workforce development center for educating future maternal and child health professionals

Background of the Maternity Care CoalitionFounded in 1980, Maternity Care Coalition (MCC) is a nonprofit organization with

the mission to improve maternal and child health and wellbeing through the collaborative efforts of individuals, families, providers and communities. Our

comprehensive approach includes research, public policy initiatives and services for families.

Traditional Scientific Research

Community-based

Research

Marjie Mogul, Ph.D.Director of Research and Evaluation