The Provision of Clinical and Non-Clinical Maternal and Child Health Services: Does Public Health Joint Production Matter

Objectives: To examine the association of public health delivery systems (PHDS) joint production and maternal and child health services (MCH). Methods: We used a longitudinal retrospective cohort research design to examine the association of PHDS joint production and MCH services. We used social network measures, degree centrality, to characterize the PHDS in two categories of joint production. We also used a one-way analysis of variance to examine the association of PHDS joint production and clinical and non-clinical MCH services that promote healthy maternal behaviors. The study examined PHDS that experienced changes in joint production from 2006 to 2012. Results: The findings suggest that changes in PHDS joint production are associated with MCH services. PHDS with high levels of joint production provided a broader scope of non-clinical MCH services (i.e. tobacco control, injury prevention, and adult immunizations) compared to PHDS with limited joint production. Conclusion: We found that our method for identifying PHDS joint production was effective and that PHDS joint production is associated with the provision of clinical and non-clinical MCH services. PHDS with high levels of joint production are more likely to achieve the Healthy People 2020 goal to adopt healthy behaviors such as effective use of contraceptives to reduce the transmission of STDs, a reduction in injuries, and proper immunization.