Matching Variables

Attachment I

hEALTHY sTART eVALUATION mATCHING vaRIABLES

Healthy Start Evaluation Matching Variables

The design of the Healthy Start evaluation requires selection of comparison communities and individuals for participation in the study. The comparison communities will be selected from Healthy Start eligible applicants that did not receive funding and comparison individuals from the population served by those eligible, unfunded organizations. The variables listed below represent the potential variables for matching communities and individuals; it is unlikely that all the variables will be used and the variables will be selected based on availability, data quality, and study needs.

Community-level Matching Variables

Because comparison communities and individuals will be selected from eligible, unfunded organizations, community-level matching variables will include those to ensure that comparison communities are similar not only in community characteristics to funded Healthy Start project areas but also that organizations through which the communities are selected are also similar to Healthy Start funded projects. Therefore, within the community-level matching variables are organizational and community variables.

Organizational Matching Variables:

• Funding application score overall and by criterion

• Need

• Response

• Evaluative measures

• Impact

• Resources/capabilities

• Support requested

• Community readiness

• Organization characteristics

• Project area (e.g., US/Mexico border, urban/rural)

• Organization type (e.g., state agency, community gov. agency)

• Funding for MCH services by source

• MCH services provided

• Staffing

• MCH client characteristics

• Demographic and socioeconomic status (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, primary language, marital status, education, health insurance status, income, employment, housing, receipt of public assistance)

• Family structure (e.g., number and age of children, child health status, household members)

• Health status

• Baseline pregnancy outcomes (e.g., pregnancy status, live births within the past two years, gestational age/low birthweight, early elective delivery)

• Baseline pregnancy health behaviors and conditions (e.g., breastfeeding, smoking status, birth spacing, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, depression, intimate partner violence)

• Baseline pregnancy health care utilization (e.g., usual source of care, primary care provider, postpartum visit, well-woman visit, well-child visit/immunizations)

Community Matching Variables

• Community Resources

  • HRSA MCH programs, initiatives, and services (e.g., Healthy Start, Family, Patient Centered Medical Home, Family-to-Family Health Information Center, MIECHV program, Healthy Tomorrows)

  • Other HHS programs (e.g., WIC, family planning, Early Head Start, Strong Start)

  • Collaboratives, Systems, and Networks (e.g., Perinatal Quality Collaborative, FIMR)

• Community Characteristics

  • Population demographic characteristics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, primary language, marital status, education, health insurance status, income, employment, housing, receipt of public assistance)

  • MCH population outcomes (e.g., live births, infant mortality, low birthweight, SIDS, teenage pregnancy, trimester of prenatal care, immunization, birth defects, infant/child abuse, HIV/AIDS, STDs, unintentional injuries)

  • Socioeconomic condition (e.g., poverty, crime, housing/homelessness, unemployment, food access, education resources, health insurance availability)

Individual-level Matching Variables

Within comparison sites, individuals will be selected to match those served by Healthy Start along demographic, socioeconomic, service utilization, and health dimensions.

• Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, primary language, marital status, education, health insurance status, income, employment, housing structure, receipt of public assistance, zip code of residence/distance to Healthy Start eligible organization)

• Family structure (e.g., number and age of children, child health status, household members)

• Health status

• Pregnancy status and previous pregnancy history outcomes (e.g., live births within the past two years, gestational age/low birthweight, early elective delivery)

• Previous pregnancy health behaviors and conditions (e.g., breastfeeding, smoking status, birth spacing, gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, depression, intimate partner violence)

• Receipt of social services (e.g., Healthy Start, home visiting, food assistance, WIC, family planning, patient navigation)