Primary Healthcare Network (PHNNWM), 2019

The First 1000 Days

The PHNNWM First 1000 Days Workshop. Photographs by Adam R. Thomas, 2019.

The First 1000 Days Tactile Tools™ workshop brought together a range of front line service providers, some of whom were invited to focus on their understanding of consumer experiences around maternal and child health. The project was positioned as part of the Better Health Plan for the West (BHP4W), and its focus on ‘the first 1000 days, from conception to 2 years old.’  The ambition of the workshop was to explore barriers, issues and solutions for women who have had, or are expecting, a low birth weight baby. The activity explored a patient-centred model of care and functioned to coalesce the group, each of whom had expertise and experience in one or more relevant fields.

The workshop focussed on four personas that we developed in consultation with PHNNWM. These personas were informed by material provided by frontline service delivery staff of BHP4W partner organisations, with the aim of depicting a range of the evidence-based key factors and social determinants that affect birth weight. Each table mapped the experience of a persona, that represented the mother and her story: Anita, Rachel, Hani and Katie. Participants used a Tactile Tools™ toolkit to identify the persona’s goal then collaboratively developed a pathway that identified roadblocks, work-arounds, stakeholders and moments of empathy. The activity helped to define key areas that may require more resourcing, training or communications. It also identified the potential for a shift in thinking about how services are delivered.