Evaluating a Perinatal Community Health Worker Program

In January 2022, PRISE Center faculty collaborated with Dr. Melanie Thomas, UCSF Associate Professor of Psychiatry, healthcare providers at Zuckerberg San Francisco General (ZSFG) Women’s Health Center, and the Homeless Prenatal Program on an applied research project funded by UCLA-UCSF ACEs Aware Family Resilience Network (UCAAN).

The goal of the Support Sisters project is to improve care for pregnant individuals in San Francisco who are at higher risk due to social or economic challenges. The project introduced a new model that trains “Support Sisters” — a term for perinatal community health workers (CHWs) — to offer compassionate, trauma-informed support to pregnant individuals to promote engagement in pre and postnatal health care and to connect clients to social resources.

PRISE Center faculty, Drs. Jennifer Velloza and Elaine Khoong, provided expertise in implementation science and mixed-methods research to evaluate the program in its early stages. Dr. Elaine Khoong and former PRISE Center staff member, Elizabeth Sherwin, supported advocacy efforts by contributing to an article published in Health Affairs highlighting policy recommendations drawn from lessons learned while caring for Medicaid-insured pregnant people in California.