health policy

Student Named Rappaport Public Policy Fellow

During the summer fellowship, doctoral candidate Cara Safon will collaborate with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to increase access to doula services in the state.

Cara Safon, a School of Public Health doctoral candidate, has been named a 2023 Rappaport Public Policy Fellow by the Harvard Kennedy School’s Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston. During the 10-week summer fellowship, Safon will collaborate with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to increase access to doula services in the state.

Working under Ann Peralta (SPH’22), director of the Division of Pregnancy, Infancy, and Early Childhood at DPH, Safon plans to examine the lessons Massachusetts can learn from policies that other states have developed and implemented to expand access to perinatal doula care, including the coverage of doula services under Medicaid.

Safon is a fourth-year PhD student in health services research in the Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management. She recently coauthored an op-ed on the subject in Health Affairs, “Doula Care Saves Lives, Improves Equity, And Empowers Mothers. State Medicaid Programs Should Pay For It,” with Lois McCloskey, clinical professor and associate chair of community health sciences; Sarah Gordon, assistant professor of health law, policy and management; Yevgeniy Feyman, another PhD student in health services research; and Caroline Ezekwesili, an MPH alum (SPH’20).

“[Safon’s] dissertation research is so aligned and relevant to the Department of Public Health’s Doula Initiative. Her research, connections with other states, and thought partnership is invaluable,” says Peralta. Peralta, a recent graduate of the DrPH program at SPH, defended her own dissertation last year, earning the 2023 Eugene Declercq Award for Excellence in a Public Health Practice Dissertation for her work developing and testing a decision aid to help pregnant people make choices regarding routine labor induction. Peralta continues to promote equitable access to shared decision-making in perinatal care through her nonprofit, Partner to Decide.

Safon hopes to support DPH in the establishment of a statewide system for certifying doulas of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds to ensure their services are widely accessible to pregnant and postpartum people, caregivers, and families.

“My placement in the Division of Pregnancy, Infancy, and Early Childhood at DPH is perfect for me,” says Safon. “It represents the type of role in which I see myself next: a leadership position at a state or local department of health with a focus on development and implementation of strategies to improve maternal, infant, and child health. I am excited to be a Rappaport Fellow and work on expanding access to an important maternal health intervention in the Commonwealth for families who need it most.”

Now in its 23rd year, the Rappaport Public Policy Fellowship is a key component of the Rappaport Institute, a research and policy center housed at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. The Institute aims to improve the governance of Greater Boston by strengthening connections among local students, scholars, and civic leaders. Safon joins a cohort of 19 other fellows.