Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #114418

Wendy Sword, RN, PhD, Susan Watt, DSW, RSW, and Christine Kurtz Landy. School of Nursing HSc 3N25, McMaster University, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5, Canada, 905-525-9140, sword@mcmaster.ca

The use of mixed methods is gaining acceptance as a strategy to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon under study. In a Canadian study of maternal and infant health and service use in the first 4 weeks following postpartum discharge from hospital, we collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data in sequential phases. Questionnaires were used to collect initial quantitative data from 1250 women and newborn infants recruited from five hospitals in the province of Ontario. Approximately 71% of these women (n=890) participated in a structured telephone interviews about health and service utilization 4 weeks post discharge. Following preliminary analysis of survey data, focus group interviews involving hospital and community-based care providers and administrators were conducted at each study site. We presented site-specific descriptive data on patterns in health and service use to the groups and asked about their explanations for findings. These group interviews helped us to better understand and interpret our findings in context. For instance, participants commented on the lack of community resources to support breastfeeding as one reason for high discontinuation rates in the early postpartum period. They described communication and resource issues that explained, in part, why women reportedly did not received a public health nurse phone call in a timely manner. We discuss these and other examples that highlight the benefits of combining methods in studies of postpartum health and service use, as well as the challenges of using qualitative approaches to assist in interpretation of quantitative findings.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to

• Articulate what is meant by mixed methods research
• Describe an example of how mixed methods can be used in maternal child health research
• Describe the benefits and challenges of using mixed methods to collect and analyze data about health outcomes and service use

Keywords: Methodology, Maternal and Child Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.