Here’s a recap of the most recent efforts from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to address social determinants of health (SDoH) including postpartum maternal health, health equity, and the health and wellbeing of America’s youth.
The launch of a new postpartum maternal health initiative
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced this week to the National Governors Association (NGA) the launch of a new collaborative effort to address postpartum maternal health.
The HHS Secretary’s Postpartum Maternal Health Collaborative aims to convene state experts, local providers, community partners, and federal experts to increase awareness of the challenges experienced among postpartum women and better address postpartum mortality.
Six states will participate in the initiative, including Iowa, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and New Mexico.
The NGA has also launched the Improving Maternal and Child Health in Rural American State and Territory Policy Learning Collaborative, which will focus on implementing policy changes to improve the health outcomes of mothers and child in rural America.
2023 updates to the Equity Action Plan
The agency has also released the 2023 updates to its Equity Action Plan, which is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s whole-of-government equity agenda.
“Equity is at the heart of every investment we make, and every initiative we take on. Nobody in this country should be left out or left behind because of where they live, their income, education level, or background,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “This plan helps to continue our shift from a health system focused on illness-care to one focused on wellness-care. HHS continues to expand access to quality, affordable health care, as well as support for people struggling with behavioral health challenges, while also ensuring that our science is both innovative and inclusive.”
The updates consist of five key focus areas, including:
- Children’s health and wellbeing
- Equitable access to health care
- Maternal health among rural, racial, and ethnic minority populations
- Behavioral health in underserved communities
- Clinical research
Biden administration holds first-ever interagency Youth Policy Summit
HHS announced this week the Biden administration hosted an interagency Youth Policy Summit, Cultivating Possibilities. For the event, nearly 90 youth from across the county came together at the U.S. Department of Education for the first summit of its kind.
The intention of the summit was to allow federal agencies to hear directly from youth to gain insights on how to improve policies and programs to ensure they have the opportunity to thrive. HHS said the U.S. Department of Education will reconvene the youth participants and federal agencies again within the next six months to continue to hear from them.
“Young people in this country are dealing with a lot of serious challenges right now, and they deserve our full support. That’s why President Biden has put forward a comprehensive national strategy to tackle our behavioral health crisis and ensure that supports and services are available wherever and whenever young people need them,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra in a statement. “We know that behavioral health is health and that there should be ‘no wrong door’ to accessing services and supports. At HHS, we’re engaging our entire Department to transform how behavioral health is understood, accessed, treated and integrated. We have invested historic amounts of funding in 988, the suicide and crisis hotline, counselors in schools, overdose treatments and more. These investments are not only an investment in our young people, they’re an investment in our future.”