Employing Community Voices: Informing Practice and Programming through Camden Healthy Start Focus Groups
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Employing Community Voices: Informing Practice and Programming through Camden Healthy Start Focus Groups Dianne R. Browne1 · Sherolde Hackett1 · Allison Burger2
© The Author(s) 2017. This article is an open access publication
Abstract Objectives Women living in communities with low-socioeconomic status, substandard healthcare, and ongoing exposure to social disparities encounter barriers to healthcare, often making it difficult to access health services. Barriers may stem from provider interactions with clients, conditions of the healthcare facility, or even language barriers. This prompts a call for providers to be keenly aware of the obstacles women encounter when attempting to access services. Methods In an effort to facilitate better access to services, Camden Healthy Start conducted six focus groups. Thirty-nine women between the ages of 22–56 participated. A total of 39 questions were posed to participants about health behavior, health services, pregnancy, reproductive health, and barriers to accessing services. Each 2 h session was audio recorded, translated and transcribed. Following the format of the Women’s Health: Attitudes and Practices in North Carolina Focus Group Research, responses were analyzed and themes emerged. Results This article discusses characteristics of healthcare services and cultural insensitivity that impact women’s access and act as barriers to care. The results signal the need for Healthy Start to apply a more relational engagement when providing services. Consideration for Practice Relational engagement includes getting to * Dianne R. Browne [email protected] Sherolde Hackett [email protected] Allison Burger [email protected] 1
SNJPC Camden Healthy Start, 808 Market Street, Camden, NJ 08102, USA
Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative, 2500 McClellan Avenue, Suite 250, Pennsauken, NJ 08109, USA
2
know the client as a person first, respecting their rights to autonomy in the decision making process, and demonstrating an understanding of the client’s culture and inclusion of their voices in the conversation. Keywords Healthy Start · Access to care · Barriers to care · Women’s health · Client attitudes
Significance Celebrating 25 years, Healthy Start has a history of establishing relationships with poor and underserved women that facilitate successful navigation of barriers in health services. This article draws attention to the centrality of developing relationships with clients in order to reduce client barriers to accessing services. It also serves as a call for new programs to get to know the communities they serve.
Introduction Good health is a right of all Americans. The World Health Organization asserts all humans have a fundamental right to the highest attainable standard of health regardless of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic standing (World Health Organization 2016). However, minority families living in American communities with low-socioeconomic status and ongoing exposure to social disparities experience less than impressive positive health outcomes. C
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