A monitoring and evaluation strategy is being developed, using the MCHN&N Dashboard indicators as a basis and exploring additional measures including audits and social development indicators. A number of partnerships non-governmental organisations and intersectoral collaborative projects are being explored, toward strengthening parenting and support for mothers within the first 1000 days of life (ranging from strengthening community worker programmes to offering parenting support to extending health departmental policy on providing support to breastfeeding women in the workplace to all other government departments), and includes collaboration with site-specific integrated service delivery models to strengthen referral pathways for service support for pregnant women with alcohol, substance abuse and smoking addictions, intimate partner violence/domestic abuse, and maternal psychosocal stressors and mental health problems. Figure 3 Conclusions High level recognition of, interest in and support for the 1st 1000days Initiative as an example of a transversal government initiative has been obtained. This has been a key enabler for improving the quality and scope of service delivery during pregnancy and the first two years of life at all levels. Senior provincial managers are now being held accountable to their respective institutional contributions to the First 1000 Days Initiative and related services via the performance management system. Although many related service components are being delivered, the opportunity now provides for the significance of these to be acknowledged and the quality improved. Many gaps have been identified and these are now being systematically addressed. Clinicians providing care for women before and during pregnancy and to infants and children during the first 2 years of life have a key leadership and advocacy role in advancing societal awareness and promoting shared responsibility for optimising the critical opportunity for optimal brain development during the 1st 1000 days of life toward addressing complex social issues.
A monitoring and evaluation strategy is being developed, using the MCHN&N Dashboard indicators as a basis and exploring additional measures including audits and social development indicators. A number of partnerships non-governmental organisations and intersectoral collaborative projects are being explored, toward strengthening parenting and support for mothers within the first 1000 days of life (ranging from strengthening community worker programmes to offering parenting support to extending health departmental policy on providing support to breastfeeding women in the workplace to all other government departments), and includes collaboration with site-specific integrated service delivery models to strengthen referral pathways for service support for pregnant women with alcohol, substance abuse and smoking addictions, intimate partner violence/domestic abuse, and maternal psychosocal stressors and mental health problems. Figure 3 Conclusions High level recognition of, interest in and support for the 1st 1000days Initiative as an example of a transversal government initiative has been obtained. This has been a key enabler for improving the quality and scope of service delivery during pregnancy and the first two years of life at all levels. Senior provincial managers are now being held accountable to their respective institutional contributions to the First 1000 Days Initiative and related services via the performance management system. Although many related service components are being delivered, the opportunity now provides for the significance of these to be acknowledged and the quality improved. Many gaps have been identified and these are now being systematically addressed. Clinicians providing care for women before and during pregnancy and to infants and children during the first 2 years of life have a key leadership and advocacy role in advancing societal awareness and promoting shared responsibility for optimising the critical opportunity for optimal brain development during the 1st 1000 days of life toward addressing complex social issues.
Proceedings-2016.docx