Improving Birth Outcomes with “Mom-Directed” Change
Compared to the costs of a healthy birth ($3,325), did you know a preterm birth can cost over $32,320 in medical costs in the first year? Mothers who do not obtain prenatal care during pregnancy are far more likely to experience a preterm birth or have a low-birthweight baby.
AKRO collaborates with United Way of Buffalo & Erie County, Belmont Housing Resources of WNY, and the Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network to increase the use of feedback loops in programs and services that support expecting moms. By listening and responding to clients in a systematic way, organizations build a foundation of trust and engagement that can lead to better programs and stronger outcomes.
We provide a variety of services including ecosystem mapping, stakeholder analysis, open data analytics, interactive dashboard development, and the use of human-centered design for outreach and engagement.
Are you working to improve birth outcomes in your community?
How would you use Feedback Loops?
Feedback loops help to identify and take action toward improvement using incremental, client-directed change. Going far beyond the annual satisfaction survey, systematically using feedback loops helps to creates a culture of responsiveness and readiness for change.
The feedback loop process can use the Net Promoter Score system to provide analytical insight into why people will promote your services to their friends and family, or why they might bash a program on social media.
Feedback Dashboards Summarize Data
Program administrators keep track of survey results and customer feedback using an interactive dashboard. This example comes from GO Buffalo Mom, where expecting moms receive a range of support during pregnancy (prenatal care, transportation support, housing assistance, financial counseling). | Click here to view interactive version.
Advocating for Policy Change
Feedback loops can also help support advocacy efforts around budget decisions and policy change. This is an example from the United Way of Southern Nevada 2019 Policy Report. Parent feedback on Nevada Ready! an early childhood education program was used to advocate for an expansion in state support for preschool in Nevada’s 2019 Legislative Session.