Chambers, Karen

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a devastating illness that can produce detrimental outcomes for mothers, families, and communities. Depression screening during the early postpartum period is essential as it assist health care providers in identifying “high-risk” cases of PPD, including women suffering from major depression, hallucinations, or suicidal thoughts (Couto et al., 2015). Postpartum depression is highest in African American (AA) women under the age of 35 years who are single mothers, women who are victims of domestic violence and those who reside in under-resourced communities. Education on how to effectively screen for and treat PPD at the provider and community level is vital in combating the disparities in black maternal mental health.
Objective: The purpose of this project is to implement a quality improvement project that will identify the lack of screening for PPD in AA women <35 years by healthcare providers, and educate and train clinical providers on how to effectively screen and diagnose PPD using a standardized screening tool during the early postpartum period of AA women < 35 yrs.

Although there are clinical guidelines in place for the treatment of hypertension (HTN), many African Americans (AA) fail to reach controlled levels within the primary care setting. The ultimate goal of this quality improvement project is to provide evidence-based information that could be used to improve HTN care and decrease the rates of uncontrolled HTN among AA adults with HTN. The project was conducted at a Federally Qualified Health Center in Fort Pierce, Florida. The intention of this quality improvement project is to address the need for attention to this concerning issue, to highlight best current evidence, and to provide a comprehensive description of the issues with recommendations for practice change. An analysis of the quantitative results, an evaluation of the project, and plans for the future and dissemination of this project will be included.