Community-based participatory research (CBPR) to reduce women's health disparities thru TANF study: Focus group and survey findings to redesign a clinical health screening questionnaire

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

3253.0: Monday, November 05, 2007 - 12:45 PM

Abstract #153936

Shawn M. Kneipp, PhD¹, Barbara Lutz, PhD, RN¹, Deidre Pereira, PhD², Allyson Hall, PhD², Joan Flocks, JD³, Linda Beeber, PhD, RN⁴, Deirdra Means¹, and Michelle E. Galin, RN, BSN, MPH(c)⁵. (1) College of Nursing, University of Florida, P.O. Box 100187, Gainesville, FL 32610, (352) 273-6410, skneipp@nursing.ufl.edu, (2) College of Public Health & Health Professions, University of Florida, PO Box 100185, Gainesville, FL 32611, (3) College of Law, University of Florida, PO Box 117629, Gainesville, FL 32611, (4) School of Nursing, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, Carrington Hall, CB# 7460, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7460, (5) University of Florida, P.O. Box 100187, Gainesville, FL 32610

The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF – or ‘welfare') program reflects federal policy that is omnipresent in the lives of roughly two million disadvantaged women. While considered ‘social' and not ‘health' policy, there are numerous implications of TANF for the health of individual women and the health disparities observed by socioeconomic status (SES) among women in the U.S. Women receiving TANF have a prevalence of physical and mental health problems at least twice as high as that found in the general population of women, and it is estimated poor health accounts for 30% of ‘re-entry' into TANF after leaving welfare. Despite this, federal and state policy guiding the implementation of TANF does not adequately address services for women with health conditions in the program, and data suggest TANF offices across states do a poor job of meeting the health needs of this population. This presentation provides a brief overview of an ongoing, 4-year study funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research using a CBPR approach to test a public health nursing (PHN) intervention with women transitioning from TANF into employment. The first of two study aims was to redesign the current Welfare Transition Program (WTP) clinical health screening tool so that it is culturally relevant, sensitive, and acceptable for use in testing the efficacy of a Welfare Participant Centered Health Program (WPCHP) using a participatory research methodology. The findings from 10 focus groups with n=60 women and a survey of n=111 women to meet Aim 1 will be presented, with the major focus group finding being women are concerned not only about the wording, content, and/or presentation of the questions in a screening tool, but are as if not more concerned about details around the screening process. Findings from the survey indicate the tool is one that is relevant, sensitive, and acceptable to the population of interest. The tool is currently being used in the final part of the overall study, which tests the PHN intervention. Findings from the study will inform policymakers, with the ultimate goals of improving welfare policy, the health of women, and reducing health disparities.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the relationship between women's health and welfare policy.
Identify what aspects of health screening were most important to women in a Welfare Transition Program (WTP).
Discuss the role of CBPR in the development of interventions for women in WTPs or TANF.

Keywords: Women's Health, Health Disparities

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Public Health Nursing Research II

The 135th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition (November 3-7, 2007) of APHA