Dr. Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook is an Assistant Professor in Psychology at the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences. She is also the Director of the Biology of Parenting Lab, housed in Chapman’s Early Human and Lifespan Development Research Center. Dr. Hahn-Holbrook’s research broadly explores the interplay between the psychological and biological processes that shape maternal mental and physical health.
Connecting Vulnerable Mothers with Health Care Services in Orange County: Harnessing Big Data to Mend Big Data Leaks in the Service Pipeline
In Orange County today, roughly one in three babies are born to mothers living in poverty, one in five are born to mothers lacking a high school diploma. Children of mothers who fall into these categories are at increased risk for chronic mental and physical health problems, academic failure, and unplanned pregnancies as adolescents. Further, mothers who are poor or uneducated are more likely to suffer from postpartum depression and less likely to breastfeed.
To aid vulnerable mothers and their children, the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, in partnership with local hospitals and community-based programs, created the Bridges Maternal Child Health Network, which identifies and connects at-risk mothers with no-cost health care, postpartum support services, and child development resources.
Dr. Hahn-Holbrook will work in partnership with the Bridges Network team to accomplish two goals. First, predictive analytics will be used to improve the accuracy of the web-based algorithm used to identify vulnerable mothers. Secondly, prescriptive analytics will help the program recognize and address the reasons why not all vulnerable mothers who qualify for free services participate in the programs. By harnessing the power of twenty-first century data analytics, we have the opportunity to improve the lives of at-risk mothers and their children in Orange County.