Candace Jarzombek (she/her) is a second-year Master of Public Health candidate at Boston University Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health, with degree certificates in Community Assessment, Program Design, Implementation, and Evaluation, and Maternal and Child Health. Before moving to Boston, she graduated from Purdue University with her bachelor’s degree in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, and Brain and Behavioral Sciences. During the summer of 2022, Candace participated in the Title V MCH Internship Program at the Virginia Department of Health, where she conducted an exploratory evaluation of one of the state’s maternal and infant home visiting programs. She currently works as a research assistant at Boston University’s Catalyst Center, the national center for health insurance and financing for children and youth with special health care needs. Her professional interests include maternal health, child development, and family wellbeing through trauma-informed and equity-centered approaches. If you are interested in connecting with Candace and learning more about her work and passions, you can find her on LinkedIn!
In her blog post, titled “Systems-Level Work to Support Home Visiting and Promote Maternal and Infant Health Equity”, Candace applies MCH competency 4 (Critical Thinking) to her work with BabyCare, a home visiting program for Medicaid-enrolled pregnant and postpartum individuals and their infants provided through Virginia’s Local Health Districts (LHD). “Evaluations of one LHD’s BabyCare program have shown impacts on infant health outcomes such as premature birth and low birthweight...” Continue reading more about Candace’s health equity efforts here!