Examining Processes of Care Redesign: Direct Observation of Group Well-Child Care

We sought to describe processes of psychosocial screening and discussion with immigrant Latino families in the context of group well-child care. We conducted longitudinal direct observations of the 1-, 2-, 4-, and 6-month visits of 7 group well-child care cohorts at an academic pediatric clinic using unstructured observations of visit and group processes as well as structured observations to code facilitators’ behavior. A range of psychosocial and social determinants of health topics were incorporated into discussions. In general, providers skillfully navigated group discussions, but inconsistently introduced the visit purpose. Asking participants to define psychosocial terms (eg, stress) and conversations about managing fussy infants were effective strategies to engage families in psychosocial discussions (eg, about postpartum depression). Some challenges with workflow were identified. Strategies to enhance screening and discussion of psychosocial topics may benefit from adaptation to maximize the effectiveness of this care mechanism.