Welcome to the website of the MEND and MENDS studies:
Social science research to help improve maternal health in California.
It is a national priority to improve maternal health outcomes and care quality. Hospitals are well-positioned to advance maternal health by improving the quality of maternity care, but there is inadequate evidence to guide their efforts to do so. The MENDS study at UCSF seeks to address this gap. (MENDS: “Maternal health interventions in California hospitals: Understanding approaches & implementation to advance health," funded by NIH’s National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities.)
The overall objective of the MENDS study is to elucidate how different health systems approach improving maternal health; to identify factors helping or hindering these efforts; and to identify promising patient-centered approaches for the next generation of hospital maternity care interventions. The mixed-methods and community-engaged research will occur in multiple regions of California. Our goal is to strengthen state and national efforts to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality, particularly for communities most burdened by these outcomes.
A stakeholder advisory board (comprised of members of communities most burdened by poor maternal health outcomes, hospital administrators, clinicians, and researchers) guides and advises the project.
Please explore links on this site to learn about prior and associated studies as well, including the now-concluded MEND study which developed stakeholder-based guidance for hospitals' clinician implicit bias training.