283 Enhancing healthcare trust and access in rural areas: Developing a digital platform with community health worker integration for perinatal populations in West Alabama

Objectives/Goals: Our UAB OBGYN team is collaborating with the West Alabama (AL) Maternity Care Coalition (WAMCC) and using implementation mapping and mixed methods to co-develop and test a digital implementation strategy at the individual and community level. The goal is to mitigate mistrust and improve the accessibility of maternity care in rural areas. Methods/Study Population: UAB OBGYN and the WAMCC will partner with Ashmi Health and the West Alabama Area Health Education to co-develop and test the implementation strategy, MOM (Mothering Our Mothers) Connect (MOM-C). The MOM-C is an adaptive progressive web application that includes contextually tailored health information, local resources, and local community health worker (CHW) support. This three-phase research includes 1) co-developing and finalizing the implementation strategy using focus groups and implementation mapping; 2) pretesting and finalizing the strategy components with people of reproductive age ( n = 20) and local CHWs ( n = 2–3); and 3) finalizing the strategy and implementation map. Results/Anticipated Results: Data collection led to the refinement of MOM-C and the development of a CHW training course. Our team also developed additional, complementary implementation strategies that included effective dissemination methods. Plans and metrics for case tracking, resource sharing, usage analytics, and user behavior data will be developed to measure the association between the implementation strategies and both primary and secondary outcomes. Primary outcomes include utilization of perinatal healthcare and social/community resources and self-efficacy. Secondary outcomes include provider and medication adherence, complications, depressive/anxiety symptoms, perceived stress, and quality of life. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Digital health interventions are an essential and cost-effective public health tool for the efficient delivery of health education and healthcare services, especially in care deserts. In low resource and low trust contexts, digital health interventions are strengthened when they are combined with CHW services and adapted for the local context.