The Importance of Participatory Research Methods for Perinatal Program Planning

Community-engaged research is essential for evaluating and implementing feasible and acceptable perinatal interventions focused on health, mental health, and substance use. Participatory research methods offer practical solutions to including community members across the project cycle, from project ideation and design through implementation, dissemination, and scaling. This roundtable will discuss four examples of participatory methods in perinatal research and jumpstart conversation among participants regarding experiences with community-engaged research.

The first presenter will describe an academic-community partnership focused on establishing a perinatal program for pregnant and postpartum Latinas in Central Texas. They have created a community advisory board (CAB) with 14 community providers across 7 organizations to inform a 5-year grant that includes 1) a community assessment, 2) the combination and cultural adaptation of patient navigation and problem solving therapy into a collaborative intervention for perinatal Latinas and 3) a feasibility trial.

The second presenter will share her experiences leading a pragmatic randomized clinical trial at a perinatal clinic for pregnant people with substance use disorder located in a Northeastern safety net hospital. In collaboration with providers at the clinic and a CAB, the study tested the feasibility, acceptability and efficacy of BRIGHT, a therapeutic dyadic parenting intervention begun in pregnancy that is attachment-focused and trauma responsive. The intervention was developed in the context of a community-academic partnership.

The third presenter will discuss her experiences as part of a multidisciplinary team of university researchers across family medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, community health, and social work to gain a comprehensive understanding of patient experiences and knowledge of prenatal services at a local federally qualified health center (FQHC), including services to address health, mental health, and concrete needs. As part of this study, the team partnered with providers and patients at the FQHC to design the survey instrument.

The fourth presenter will explain how data gathered from focus groups with caregivers and health care providers of infants were used to explore infant safe sleep practices. These focus groups provided space for those who interact directly with infants at high-risk for mortality to share their real-life experiences and perspectives related to how and where infants sleep. Naming and sharing their first-hand experiences related to infant sleep practices led to the development of realistic risk reduction strategies that will be available for implementation county-wide.

These brief presentations will highlight varied participatory research strategies such as building CABs, employing principles of co-design, and using data to inform actionable next steps. Session conveners will then engage participants in a discussion on how to align social work science with policy and practice. Conveners will discuss common challenges to participatory research including identifying community partners, funding opportunities, accessing university support, motivating community members to engage in research projects, and aligning participatory projects with performance expectations within academia. Presenters will also discuss opportunities to incorporate social work practice and policy skills like rapport building, interdisciplinary collaboration, trauma informed care, diverse stakeholder engagement, inclusive decision making, and maintaining sustainable cross-sectoral partnerships into research.