Abstract
Background: Mary’s Center, a federally qualified health center, built an innovative telehealth group prenatal care (T-GPNC) program during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure equitable and safe healthcare access. T-GPNC sessions include individual assessment, group education and social support led by a culturally congruent community health worker, and connection to community resources. This presentation will describe the T-GPNC program, assess the adequacy of T-GPNC compared with individual prenatal care (IPC), and describe client satisfaction.
Methods: We used a mixed methods design. We conducted a retrospective chart review of Spanish speaking midwifery care clients from July 1, 2021 to August 31, 2023. We assessed adequacy using the Adequacy of Prenatal Care Index and timely lab completion. We used inductive coding to analyze T-GPNC satisfaction surveys.
Results: The final sample included 334 client charts (141 T-GPNC and 193 IPC). The majority were Latinx, and used public insurance or were uninsured. T-GPNC clients were significantly more likely to receive adequate or adequate plus care at 67.9% versus 39.1% for IPC clients. T-GPNC clients liked receiving T-GPNC (95.7%) with an average rating (4.85 out of 5, SD = 0.63). Qualitative themes included: gaining knowledge, shared experiences, and systems level support.
Conclusions: T-GPNC provided critical support to a marginalized community during COVID-19, resulting in higher rates of adequate prenatal care for T-GPNC clients versus IPC. T-GPNC clients were highly satisfied with their care. Clinical practices should implement this model with technology and equipment resources that ensure equitable access to telehealth care.
Sigma Membership
Tau
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Other
Research Approach
Mixed/Multi Method Research
Keywords:
Health Equity or Social Determinants of Health, Public and Community Health, Prenatal Care, Telehealth, Latinx
Recommended Citation
Daily, Catherine; Gresh, Ashley; Hamilton, Elizabeth R.; Crowell, Nancy A.; Martinez, Germán Gustavo Alva; and Marea, Christina X., "Evaluating the Impact of Telehealth Prenatal Care: A Innovation to Provide Care to Latinx Clients" (2025). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 195.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2025/presentations_2025/195
Conference Name
36th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Seattle, Washington, USA
Conference Year
2025
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Evaluating the Impact of Telehealth Prenatal Care: A Innovation to Provide Care to Latinx Clients
Seattle, Washington, USA
Background: Mary’s Center, a federally qualified health center, built an innovative telehealth group prenatal care (T-GPNC) program during the coronavirus pandemic to ensure equitable and safe healthcare access. T-GPNC sessions include individual assessment, group education and social support led by a culturally congruent community health worker, and connection to community resources. This presentation will describe the T-GPNC program, assess the adequacy of T-GPNC compared with individual prenatal care (IPC), and describe client satisfaction.
Methods: We used a mixed methods design. We conducted a retrospective chart review of Spanish speaking midwifery care clients from July 1, 2021 to August 31, 2023. We assessed adequacy using the Adequacy of Prenatal Care Index and timely lab completion. We used inductive coding to analyze T-GPNC satisfaction surveys.
Results: The final sample included 334 client charts (141 T-GPNC and 193 IPC). The majority were Latinx, and used public insurance or were uninsured. T-GPNC clients were significantly more likely to receive adequate or adequate plus care at 67.9% versus 39.1% for IPC clients. T-GPNC clients liked receiving T-GPNC (95.7%) with an average rating (4.85 out of 5, SD = 0.63). Qualitative themes included: gaining knowledge, shared experiences, and systems level support.
Conclusions: T-GPNC provided critical support to a marginalized community during COVID-19, resulting in higher rates of adequate prenatal care for T-GPNC clients versus IPC. T-GPNC clients were highly satisfied with their care. Clinical practices should implement this model with technology and equipment resources that ensure equitable access to telehealth care.
Description
This oral presentation will describe this innovative telehealth group prenatal care program implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic for Latinx Spanish speaking clients at a federally qualified health center. The presentation will include results from a recent program evaluation to assess the adequacy of prenatal care for clients, and describe client satisfaction. It will provide participants an opportunity to create innovative care models that incorporate the use of technology and telehealth.