Can a Clinic-Based Community Health Worker Intervention Buffer the Negative Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Health and Well-Being of Low-Income Families during Early Childhood

Taylor Salaguinto (), Yasmin Guzman, Sarah J. Lowry, Kendra Liljenquist, Rachel LaFontaine, Janette E. Ortiz, Peter G. Szilagyi, Kevin Fiscella, Marcia R. Weaver and Tumaini R. Coker
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Taylor Salaguinto: Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle Children’s, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
Yasmin Guzman: Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle Children’s, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
Sarah J. Lowry: Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle Children’s, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
Kendra Liljenquist: Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle Children’s, Seattle, WA 98101, USA
Rachel LaFontaine: Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
Janette E. Ortiz: Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Peter G. Szilagyi: Department of Pediatrics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Kevin Fiscella: Department of Family Medicine, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14611, USA
Marcia R. Weaver: Departments of Health Metrics Sciences & Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98121, USA
Tumaini R. Coker: Seattle Children’s Research Institute, Seattle Children’s, Seattle, WA 98101, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 14, 1-9

Abstract: We examined changes in self-reported mental health, physical health, and emotional support among low-income parents with children ages 0–2 years old from pre-pandemic to pandemic periods and compared changes in parental health among parents who did versus did not have access to a clinic-based community health worker intervention supporting parents at early childhood preventive care visits. We utilized longitudinal parent survey data from pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 time periods from both the intervention and control arms of an existing cohort of parents enrolled in a 10-clinic cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT). At enrollment (pre-pandemic) and 12-month follow-up (pandemic), participants reported on mental health, physical health, and emotional support using PROMIS measures (n = 401). During the pre-pandemic portion, control and intervention group parents had similar mean T-scores for mental health, physical health, and emotional support. At follow-up, mean T-scores for mental health, physical health, and emotional support decreased across both control and intervention groups, but intervention group parents had smaller declines in mental health T-scores ( p = 0.005). Our findings indicate that low-income parents with young children suffered significant declines in mental and physical health and emotional support during the pandemic and that the decline in mental health may have been buffered by the community health worker intervention.

Keywords: COVID-19 impact; pandemic; postpartum; well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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