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This past week, CAHMI’s founding director, Dr. Christina Bethell, and esteemed colleagues, published a paper in the Maternal and Child Health Journal recounting the inception and evolution of the Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative (CAHMI). The article offers a summary of progress and lessons learned throughout the 25+ years CAHMI has contributed to shape and accelerate the maternal and child health field, particularly to scale family-centered data, measurements, and relational systems of care.
The paper begins with a crash course of MCH policy reform in the United States and how CAHMI was created to “meet the moment” and fill gaps in quality assurance to drive improvements, prioritize possibilities to address child health needs, promote lifelong well-being, and empower systems and MCH leaders. Notably, CAHMI's Data Resource Center liberates family-centered data to promote data-driven action and policy change. Similarly, CAHMI's family-driven digital health tools activate family engagement at practice and system levels to enhance the quality of early childhood services and create transformational partnerships between families, communities, and health providers. The paper concludes by illustrating a visionary path forward that advances an integrated systems approach that prioritizes positive health equity. This perspective goes beyond just the absence of negative health outcomes but instead focuses on the presence of child flourishing and family resilience.
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