Conference Abstract Compendium Examples from the ... - CityMatCH

2009 CityMatCH Urban MCH Leadership ConferenceRESULTSThemes around race, poverty, healthcare, fathers, and community emerged, and the construct of resiliencehas been especially noticeable in the younger participants. Footage from the focus groups and interviewshas been used to develop a mini-documentary that will be shown at local events to encourage awarenessand dialogue among community members, stakeholders and providers. This will shed light on the livedexperience of African Americans in our community and generate suggestions to explore. This process willassure community engagement and awareness of the larger ongoing research project.LIMITATIONSMany lessons were learned in this process about the importance of choosing an appropriate setting,format, and moderator when conducting sensitive interviews. Our findings may be limited by somecharacteristics of the participants or through the context of our inquiry. Sampling through socialnetworking, the ideological dispositions inherent in issues of race and infant mortality, and assumptionsabout what is known and what must be revealed could all contribute to bias and gaps in data. This wouldbe strengthened through more random recruitment of participants, a more longitudinal approach, or ifreplicated in a similar-sized population with different birth outcomes.CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONSOur participants report deep satisfaction in their relationships with providers, and the construct ofresilience is a consistent theme throughout the interviews. Identifying factors that foster resilience couldhelp us to develop programs that promote resilience as a means of health promotion. It is important to alsoidentify healthcare providers’ actions and attitudes that cause African American women to feel valued andrespected. Promoting these factors might lead to a reduction in many health disparities and improvedpopulation health overall.59