NWC Early Intervention providers created an innovative solution with the Hospital-to-Home (H2H) care model, a framework to support families after the transition out of the NICU. In 2022, Northwest Center launched the Hospital-to-Home Systems Change program. We didn’t want to only fill the gap for families discharging from the NICU within our service area but fix the gap statewide and beyond.
Our History, Our Story
For years, Early Intervention (Part C of IDEA) providers at Northwest Center were seeing the same troubling pattern - families were leaving the NICU and going months without services. Parents were navigating their infants’ feeding and developmental challenges while struggling with the trauma of the NICU and its impact on their mental health. The sudden drop from 24-hour medical care to being home without support (the service cliff) was impacting the whole family and their overall trajectory.
Hospital-to-Home Care Model
Hospital-to-Home is an adaptable care model that is dynamic and family-centered. Here’s a glimpse of some components and the real impact when H2H is implemented. ESIT in these images refers to Washington state’s Early Intervention program.
Hospital-to-Home Systems Change
Our team’s goal is to ensure every family leaving the NICU has the support they need to thrive. This program was launched in 2022 to support systems-wide change and share out the innovative Hospital-to-Home (H2H) care model NWC Early Intervention providers created starting in 2015.
From the foundation of perinatal mental health, the Hospital-to-Home Systems Change program addresses systems change from three pillars - Hospital, Home, and Advocacy. By partnering with communities and co-design with those with lived experience, we strengthen systems together.
The H2H Systems Change team’s goal is to ensure that every family leaving the NICU has the support that they need to thrive.