Comprehensive Care for New Generations
At Southcentral Foundation, family is at the center of care and well-being. As one facet of a comprehensive approach to supporting family wellness, SCF has implemented the New Generations project, which is a targeted interdisciplinary effort to incorporate best practices of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) into services at SCF. This care begins during pregnancy and continues throughout the child’s early years.
When pregnancy is confirmed, the customer-owner’s primary care team connects them to several resources including pregnancy precaution resources, Behavioral Health Consultants (BHCs), dieticians, medication review, and midwifery referrals. The primary care team continues to provide non-obstetric care during pregnancy.
After the baby is born, postpartum care is resumed by the customer-owner’s primary care provider, who is usually also the primary care provider for the newborn infant. Postpartum support includes BHCs who provide problem-focused interventions in the primary care clinic. Referrals are made to behavioral health services for more intensive behavioral health needs. Also, integrated psychiatrists in primary care can provide focused assessments, which assist with diagnosis and options for treatment and support for more complex post-partum conditions. Co-visits with both the integrated psychiatrist and the primary care provider are offered. Finally, both pregnancy and postpartum Learning Circles are available, where new mothers can share story and learn from each other.
Another element of SCF’s care for families and children is the Nutaqsiivik Program, a voluntary nurse home-visiting program. Nutaqsiivik utilizes home visiting nurses as the primary relationship with customer-owners who are pregnant and/or parenting a child up to two years of age. These nurses develop relationships with families, take the baby’s weight and measurements, and focus on child development screeners. SCF has also added a BHC to Nutaqsiivik to support mothers who may be experiencing postpartum anxiety and depression. The BHC focuses on whole family wellness, supporting family strengths and parent-child attachment.
Through comprehensive support for family wellness, SCF is working to support the building of healthy families, communities, and new generations. For more information on SCF’s commitment to family wellness, or any other aspect of SCF’s Nuka System of Care, feel free to contact the SCF Learning Institute.
