Vecino’s Healthy Women → Healthy Families Initiative is taking a comprehensive, community-centered approach to tackling the most challenging health issues facing families in northeast Houston.

The health of families and communities begins with women and girls

The research is clear: the health of women and girls determines the health and well-being of the community. Health outcomes extend far beyond clinics and exam rooms. Health is centered in our homes, schools, neighborhoods, and places of work and worship. When we focus on a woman’s health and the health of her family, we transform the community as a whole.

An integrated approach to tackle unacceptably high rates of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity

Vecino Health Centers has long understood that healthcare is most effective when it is patient-centered and community-centered. The Healthy Women → Healthy Families Initiative takes this approach a step further.

 Instead of focusing on standalone appointments that treat a single health issue, patients engage in care through a lifespan approach. Services are delivered as a bundle of care by a coordinated, multidisciplinary team.

There are many factors that affect health. The health of families and the communities in which they live have a significant impact on the health of women. With this in mind, Vecino is implementing a broad approach to women’s health care through the initiative. Specialty care for women now includes care for all members of the family unit. Vecino’s community outreach efforts are also expanding through the Initiative to include health forums and screenings and additional partnerships with community-based organizations.

Designed by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals

The model for the Healthy Women → Healthy Families Initiative was designed by a multidisciplinary team of medical, behavioral health, and social service experts at Vecino. It integrates the following four components:

• Women’s health: Women’s specialty care is delivered as a bundle of comprehensive services. These services focus on all aspects of wellbeing, including the non-medical factors in a woman’s life that affect her physical and mental health.
• Prenatal and postnatal health: A multidisciplinary team is delivering Vecino’s specialty maternity care. This includes the broad spectrum of prenatal care, from pre-conception and family planning through breastfeeding consultation and postpartum care.
• Family health: Specialty care for women encompasses care for all members of the family unit. This includes pediatric care, wellness exams for adults and children, behavioral health services, and substance abuse treatment.
• Community health: Vecino is expanding its partnership with schools and community-based organizations to promote the overall well-being of the community and neighborhoods where patients live, study, and work. Community health workers are engaging members of the community through health forums, health fairs, and screenings.

Follow the progress of the Healthy Women → Healthy Families Initiative

The first phases of the Healthy Women → Healthy Families Initiative are well underway. Additional components are set to roll out over the next year.

To learn more about the initiative or find out how you can support Vecino Health Centers as it champions the health of women and families, contact us to receive updates or to partner with Vecino. Contact the team.

Join the Initiative as a patient

For more information about the initiative or to make a health care appointment, please contact Alix CaDavid by phone at 713-343-5512 or by email.