MCH Leads Health Equity Edition – In order to advance health equity for MCH populations, beginning January 2023, MCH Leads will feature trainees’ health equity-focused work. We look forward to highlighting trainees’ experiences supporting the health and well-being of vulnerable and underserved populations and communities. Also, their work assessing and addressing the underlying causes of health disparities–and their efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion–ultimately improving MCH outcomes. In addition, we encourage trainees to reflect on how the MCH Leadership Competencies are applicable to their health equity-focused stories.
Diana Calderon (she/her) is a 2nd year Masters of Public Health student concentrating in Community Health Sciences at the University of California Los Angeles. She is a current trainee in the Child Family Health Training Program within UCLA’s Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Center of Excellence. She is passionate about reproductive justice and MCH, which has influenced her career goal to conduct research regarding health equity for underserved communities. She is currently a reproductive justice community leader with California Latinas for Reproductive Justice. There she has the opportunity to center reproductive justice values in research projects to bolster health equity among women of color. Over the summer, Diana worked as a Title V MCH intern with the National MCH Workforce Development Center. Within this role, Diana partnered with University of Illinois Division of Specialized Care for Children (UIC DSCC) to conduct a landscape analysis which provided insight into the strengths and weaknesses of UIC DSCC to address National Performance Measure 17, which focuses on medical homes. Diana received a Bachelors of Arts in Global Health and a Bachelors of Arts in Ethnic Studies from the University of California San Diego, which have both influenced her knowledge and commitment to social justice and health equity. Connect with Diana on Linkedin!
Advancing Health Equity and Mentorship in MCH
As part of Illinois’ 2025–2030 Title V Needs Assessment cycle, my primary focus was National Performance Measure 17, which addresses access to medical homes for children with and without special health care needs (CYSHCN). While collaborating with my co-intern, I assessed Illinois’ capacity to improve access to medical homes for CYSHCN. Our work produced several findings and recommendations that will guide the state’s next steps.
The project included five main objectives:
1. Conducting a literature review on evidence-based strategies to improve medical home access for CYSHCN in other states’ MCH programs.
2. Benchmarking other states’ data and strategies on medical home access for CYSHCN.
3. Analyzing data from the National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) by demographic details and medical home components.
4. Conducting a landscape analysis of Illinois’ strengths, resources, and gaps in improving medical home access for CYSHCN.
5. Developing recommendations to guide Illinois in increasing medical home access rates among CYSHCN.
For the blog post I wanted to focus on two MCH Leadership Competencies: Competency 7 – Cultural Competency and Competency 9 – Developing Others through Teaching, Coaching, and Mentoring. Although the project was primarily remote and data-driven, I was mindful of the personal impact that state-level work has on families and healthcare providers of CYSHCN. These experiences also highlighted the value of meaningful mentorship in my professional development.
Systems Level Work and Its Impact on Community
When working with data, it is easy to lose sight of how broad policies and state-level initiatives impact daily life in the communities facing these challenges. For this reason, my preceptor made it a priority to keep interns engaged with families of CYSHCN who had lived experiences. Specifically, I had the chance to speak with the co-chair of DSCC’s Family Advisory Council who is also DSCC’s Home Care Family Outreach Associate. She reminded me of the importance of focusing on the disparities that exist within the CYSHCN population, especially the language barrier that exists for non-English speaking families seeking care, as well as the lack of culturally competent care for CYSHCN. This pushed me to frame my data analysis and presentations to key stakeholders in a way that focused on disparities and gaps in access to care for these specific populations.
Meaningful Mentorship
Having a mentor for a professional development opportunity is essential in being able to create networks, develop new skills, and learn as you progress. While my internship environment was remote, I felt very integrated because my preceptor set up weekly individual and team meetings for me and my co-intern. My preceptor also allowed us to join in on important meetings that had a variety of state stakeholders in the MCH field, ranging from state public health department epidemiologists to pediatricians. The internship structure, which prioritized meaningful mentorship, allowed me to learn from public health professionals, and gave me the space to ask questions or make mistakes. This type of mentoring creates stronger and passionate public health advocates who can also provide meaningful mentorship for others.
