The Institute for Child Health Policy (ICHP) is a statewide institute focused on improving maternal and child health and health care through collaborative cross-disciplinary research; training programs for the next generation of maternal and child health researchers; and engagement with health care leaders, youth and families. ICHP was initially developed to translate evidence-based practices for children’s health care into clinical and community settings. ICHP-affiliated faculty broadened this translational focus to include advancing health research, which is carried out using real-world data and conducting pragmatic clinical trials.
ICHP is nationally recognized for advancing health research on quality of care for low-income women, children and youth; diabetes in youth; rural health care for pregnant women; and cancer prevention.
Quality of Care
ICHP faculty lead evaluations on the quality and outcomes of care in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program in Florida and Texas. ICHP’s research informed the development of STAR Kids, a managed care program for children with special health care needs. ICHP faculty led the development of the first integrated curative and palliative care program for children with life-limiting conditions. ICHP also developed measures that are used nationally to assess the quality of dental care and mental health conditions for children.
Diabetes in Youth
ICHP developed and implemented an electronic health record (EHR)-based diabetes surveillance system in Florida, New York and other states. The purpose of this system is to assess T1 and T2 diabetes prevalence, risk-factors, complications and medication use to provide actionable insights to guide public health interventions.
Rural Health Care for Pregnant Women
ICHP is part of the NIH-funded Florida Community-Engaged Research Alliance. ICHP faculty work with a Mobile Outreach Unit in a five-county rural area to test community health worker-led interventions to increase access to prenatal and postpartum care and to address food insecurity.
Cancer Prevention
ICHP faculty are leading studies on increasing the uptake of the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine among low-income, rural boys and girls and on reducing the use of tobacco products among adolescents. The National Cancer Institute (NCI)-funded Text and Talk Study is working with 30 pediatric primary care practices to test messaging and communication strategies with parents and adolescents to increase the HPV vaccine uptake. ICHP faculty also are conducting a pragmatic clinical trial to test the comparative effectiveness of mobile health to make smoking cessation resources more accessible to adolescents and young adults.