On May 3, FLOURISH St. Louis and SSM Health hosted the Safe Sleep Summit, an event that integrated learning, networking and coordinating of resources between service providers and community members. One of the main focuses of this spring’s program was to conduct a safe sleep “Train the Trainer” training to community leaders so they can educate within their own communities.
“Delivering consistent safe sleep messages throughout the community is paramount in order to change behaviors,” said Lori Winkler, Injury Prevention Nurse Coordinator at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital and event co-chair. “It is extremely important we all come together and be on the same page on this issue, so we can ultimately reduce infant mortality. Training our trainers to have a consistent approach to teaching safe sleep to families is an important first step.”
The four-hour program, held at the SSM Health DePaul health center, also covered other topics related to safe sleep:
- Dr. Stacy Scott, founder of Global Infant Safe Sleep Center, addressed the approaches for helping families understand the existing safe sleep recommendations, such as building trust, practicing sensitivity, suspending bias, being respectful and active listening.
- We certified 35 new safe sleep champions and recognized Affinia Health Care as the first organization to achieve Safe Sleep Champion status from FLOURISH. Learn more about FLOURISH’s Safe Sleep Recognition Training and Certification here.
- We introduced a shared tool for providers to enter and standardize data to create a regional dataset around safe sleep. This Safe Sleep Measurement Information System is funded by Data Across Sectors for Health (DASH).
- We introduced attendees to the Fetal-Infant Mortality Review (FIMR) program, which provides a comprehensive review of fetal deaths and infant deaths in St. Louis, and can help guide recommendations to health care systems and community resources like FLOURISH as we address sleep-related deaths.
- Lunchtime conversations offered an opportunity to share and address different safe sleep scenarios among small groups.
The next summit, planned for October 2019 during Safe Sleep Awareness Month, will continue building greater awareness and understanding of safe sleep practices in our region.
If you have any questions about safe sleep or are interested in becoming a certified safe sleep provider, please contact Sarah Kennedy at skennedy@generatehealth.org.
