In July 2008, the Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership (PPP) launched a 15 month project to create a nationally recognized, web-based Perinatal Depression Information Network (PDIN). No national information network exists nationwide to provide a platform for networking and information sharing among states or to promote the adoption of best practices and stimulate cross-state collaborations.
Such infrastructure is crucial to respond to this public health challenge on behalf of the next generation of families. With funding from the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare and the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, PDIN provides a platform for networking and information sharing among professionals and state officials throughout the country.
Resources highlight systems and policy information, awareness, provider training, research, clinical resources and tools and other perinatal depression efforts. The aim of this information network is to showcase those states that have created innovative and successful programs so that those which need information to begin or improve perinatal depression efforts may find it readily.
The Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership (PPP) is the first statewide group of its kind in the nation. Created in 2002, the Partnership brings together maternal and child health organizations from across Pennsylvania. The seventeen member organizations of PPP are working together on such issues as improving managed care services for pregnant women, creating a best practices model for the early detection and prevention of perinatal depression, and advocating for improved state funding of maternal and child health programs.
Since 2006, PPP has received funding from a variety of sources including U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Pennsylvania Department of Health, the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare, and the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation to undertake a multi-faceted project on perinatal depression. Among the project components are: cross-disciplinary provider trainings, two statewide conferences featuring consumers, advocating for medical assistance payments for screening and referral, protocol development, home visiting interventions, establishing state specific consumer information, service co-location, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) trainings.
The Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation is a Quaker-based, philanthropic, grant-making foundation committed to raising its voice to improve the system through which behavioral healthcare is delivered in the Philadelphia region. The Foundation’s vision is to “be Thomas Scattergood” for our time, seeking opportunities for productive dialogue and learning within the behavioral health field; and activating leadership and collaborative endeavors through award of targeted grants to address pressing behavioral health needs in innovative ways.
This website was created with the help and support of the PDIN Expert Advisory Committee:
- Diana Cheng, MD, Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
- Ann Conway, MS, MPA, RN, Wisconsin Association for Perinatal Care
- Nurit Fischler, Oregon Public Health Division, Office of Family Health
- Lisa Kirshenbaum, Perinatal Depression Advocate, Board member of Families First Rhode Island, Health Care Consultant
- Birdie Gunyon Meyer, RN, MA, CLC, Postpartum Support International
- Laura Miller, MD, Brigham and Women's/Faulkner Hospital
- Brian Shanahan, MediSpin, Inc.
- Brian Stafford, MD, MPH, Kempe Center
- Katherine Stone, Postpartum Support International, Postpartum Progress Blog Founder
- Rita Suri, MD, UCLA Medical Center
- Gayle Whatley, Regional Perinatal Coordinator, Wellness Program
- Katherine Wisner, MD, MA, Women's Behavioral HealthCARE, Magee Women's Hospital
- Linda Worley, MD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Student Wellness Program & University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine