Partner With Us
Partner With Us
Impactful Engagements
Are you looking to enhance your understanding and initiatives around maternal substance use? Our partners are here to help! We offer a range of opportunities to engage with experts and community leaders through talks, workshops, and collaborative projects.
Our partners bring a wealth of knowledge and experience, actively participating in monthly virtual meetings and leading research projects. They share their lived experiences to shape and guide impactful, community-centered work.
The EMPOWER Project is committed to listening to patient stories and ensuring that the voices of those with lived experiences drive meaningful change in health care.
Empowering Perinatal Care Through Patient Engagement
The EMPOWER Project supports perinatal quality collaboratives (PQCs) by integrating the voices of patients with lived experience into research, policy, and quality improvement initiatives. Our trainings and consulting services equip organizations with the tools to build their own patient-centered collaboratives or engage directly with EMPOWER Moms for meaningful, evidence-informed feedback.
If none of the following offerings meet your needs, please contact us to discuss additional options.
Workshops & Training Offerings
Co-Creation & Evaluation Services
Technical Assistance
Why EMPOWER?
EMPOWER is led by Dr. Nichole Nidey, a maternal-child health epidemiologist with extensive experience in perinatal quality collaborative (PQC) initiatives. In 2019, Dr. Nidey founded EMPOWER, which has since grown into a robust, multi-state collaborative with over 20 patients with lived experience of substance use during pregnancy from eight states.
EMPOWER Moms have received extensive training in research, policy, and patient-centered quality improvement. They are uniquely equipped to:
Provide structured feedback on research studies, QI initiatives, and policy proposals
Co-create solutions to improve perinatal care
Lead and support trainings, workshops, and speaking engagements
Serve as consultants to ensure patient-centered approaches in healthcare and research
Whether you're looking to build your own patient-centered collaborative or incorporate lived experience into your initiatives, EMPOWER provides actionable solutions for perinatal quality improvement.
Now Recruiting Partners
What do Partners do?
Our partners actively engage in monthly virtual meetings, collaborate as co-leads on research projects, and contribute their lived experiences to shape and guide future initiatives. Their insights play a key role in driving impactful, community-centered work.
“The EMPOWER project has made me realize that I wasn’t alone and that I have a voice.”
Throughout all phases of the research, Patient Partners play an active role, building their capacity to lead and shape future research initiatives, ensuring that the research is always aligned with the needs and experiences of those it aims to serve.
Key areas of focus include examining access to care, where the impacts of trauma and stigma must be recognized as crucial barriers on the patient’s journey.
Clinical Partners
Healthcare professionals who provide maternity and/or pediatric care, and substance use treatment.
Community Partners
Individuals who represent the community or community organizations.
Research Partners
Researchers who study substance use around the timing of pregnancy.
Patient Partners
Individuals with lived experience of substance use around the timing of pregnancy.
Technical Assistance (TA) for Perinatal Quality Collaboratives
For PQCs looking for ongoing support, EMPOWER offers a Technical Assistance (TA) package, allowing teams to meet once per month for 1 hour with EMPOWER leadership and patient partners to receive guidance on patient engagement strategies, research design, and program development.
Objective: Help healthcare providers and PQCs recognize and address stigma in perinatal care, especially for individuals with substance use disorder (SUD).
Format: Interactive workshop with patient narratives and role-playing exercises, offered virtually or in person