142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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305790
"Growing Forward": The Roles of Place and Language in a Multinational Maternal Health Intervention

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Elizabeth Mosley, MPH , Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, University of Michigan School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, MI
Julia Seng, PhD, CNM, FAAN , Division of Health Promotion and Risk Reduction, University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, MI
  
Issues: Pregnant women with histories of abuse or post-traumatic stress disorder have increased risk of negative physical, psychological, and interpersonal childbearing outcomes. Previously, the CASEY (Child Abuse, Stress, and the Early Years) Collaboration developed and piloted a multinational psychoeducational intervention to address traumatic stress and parenting needs, which was titled "Survivor Mom's Companion" (SMC). Recruiter feedback and diminished enrollment outside the United States suggested the title did not positively resonate with women's experiences of trauma and recovery in particular contexts.

Description: We informally contacted maternity clinicians, mental health providers, and women's advocates in Australia (n=12) and the United Kingdom (n=7) to develop a standardized curriculum title prior to program implementation. We questioned participants about language used to describe 1) women who had experienced childhood abuse and 2) the process of recovery from abuse.

Lessons Learned: Participants hesitated to use labels of "survivor" or "victim" due to stigma, and some women feel they have not yet "survived" childhood abuse. These informants framed recovery as a life-long process that cannot be definitively resolved, but which they described as "regrowth." Participants discussed "tools" to support new mothers, and emphasized that women prefer programs focused on their futures rather than their histories of abuse.

Recommendations: Post-traumatic health interventions must consider the power and connotations of language, including associated stigmatization or empowerment for program participants. "Growing Forward: Tools for Mothering after Childhood Abuse" was developed as a potential curriculum title. Ongoing discussion among research collaborators and stakeholders emphasizes the challenges of standardizing international intervention materials.

Learning Areas:

Diversity and culture
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe the challenges of varying connotations and implications of language across geographical and cultural spaces in multinational health interventions. Identify potential approaches to quality improvement for international health interventions.

Keyword(s): International MCH, Quality Improvement

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked in the fields of domestic and international maternal and child health for over 6 years, first as a Master's student at UNC-Chapel Hill, followed by professional experiences in Africa and Asia with international NGOs, and finally as a doctoral student at the University of Michigan. My relevant research and health program experiences have focused on post-traumatic stress among women, the perinatal period, and marginalized or vulnerable global populations.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

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.

Back to: 4171.0: International/Global Health Student Projects & Maternal/Child Health Student Projects Roundtable