Georgia Implementing a Maternal health and Pregnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone (IMPROVE)
Investigator(s): Cheryl G. Franklin, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, OB/GYN; Natalie Hernandez, PhD, MPH, Interim Director, Center for Maternal Health Equity, Assistant Professor, Community Health and Preventive Medicine; Folashade Omole, MD, Chair, Department of Family Medicine, MSM.
Goals: 1) incorporate strategic community partnerships and participation to address health disparities in maternal health and 2) establish a foundation to expand research on the leading causes of MM and pregnancy related morbidity, with a focus on patient-centered, evidence-based prevention.
Specific Aims: 1) Develop a multi stakeholder, community-based Perinatal Care Research and Intervention Network (PCRIN) of women, healthcare providers and health systems, to identify barriers to, and develop stakeholder-informed solutions for optimal maternal health equity.
2) Conduct a Pilot feasibility study of patient-centered perinatal care coordination, using remote monitoring, to support care transition from perinatal through 42 days postpartum.
Title of Research Project: Exploring Facilitators and Barriers to Cervical Cancer Prevention and Education among Rural Immigrant Mexican Latinas in Georgia: Setting a Research Agenda
Investigator: Natalie D. Hernandez, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, and Interim Director, Center for Maternal Health Equity
Overall Goal(s) of the Research: Overall goal is to inform the development of a culturally responsive, multi-level (individual, interpersonal, community) toolkit to promote cervical cancer prevention and clinical research to decrease the burden of cervical cancer among rural Mexican immigrant Latinas in Georgia.
Specific Aims of the Research:
Aim 1a: To identify the facilitators and barriers of cervical cancer prevention methods among rural Latina women in Georgia.
Aim1b: To investigate the role of promotoras (community health workers) and other community-based, cancer prevention opportunities and outreach strategies to decrease cervical cancer disparities.
Aim 2: To assess factors associated with Latina participation in clinical cervical cancer research.
Outcomes for each Specific Aim:
Aim 1: We will investigate individual-level (in-depth interviews with Latina women), interpersonal-level (in-depth interview with health care providers who care for Latinas), and community-level (in-depth interviews with Latino-serving organizations or faith-based organizations) determinants.
Aim 2: We hypothesize that immigrant related minority stress factors will significantly decrease the likelihood of preventive behaviors and participation in research among rural Latina immigrants.