Considerations in designing trauma-focused interventions for displaced Afghan women

Ramos, Amaya Alexandra

doi:10.3389/fgwh.2022.893957

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 150 publications

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“…Unfortunately, though, mental health is often mischaracterized and treated as a "soft science" (Reinhard, 2020;Van Landingham, 2014) when it is anything but, especially considering the extremely high traumatic stress which incoming Afghan populations (Ramos, 2023) and those with similarly complex experiences will most likely endorse.…”

Section: Structure Is Politics: Structural Limitations and Responsibl...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities for enhanced institutional accountability and professionalization: The relationships between refugee resettlement organizations, humanitarian bodies, industry and academia

Ramos¹

2022

Preprint

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Critiques of resettlement bodies exist in both formal and informal discourse, though these concerns had heretofore been allowed to remain liminal. The push towards accountability engendered through the rapid democratization of media, accelerated by several high visibility humanitarian crises, has now revitalized the trajectory of criticisms through some degree of institutional reflection. While formal critiques of humanitarian bodies often focus on the philosophical and moral quandaries of the quest to decolonize and de-weaponize social sciences (as well as the systematic disempowerment of resettled communities), fewer address the syndemic ethical challenges encoded into the daily operations of the humanitarian ecosystems themselves, as well as the feedback loops which they foment. This article is concerned with matters of praxis, professionalization and transparency, addressing blocks to the information flows necessary to enable the level of introspection and systems thinking which should underpin all human sciences, but which have been conspicuously absent in the U.S. resettlement bodies, despite their being so directly intertwined with life outcomes. Absent the development of dedicated, integrated health and other supportive infrastructures independent of resettlement organizations, and primarily utilizing the U.S. resettlement bodies to inform its arguments, it highlights the need for the resettlement field, and by extension, similar humanitarian sectors, to align themselves with various disciplinary standards that will promote and valorize accountability over expansion. It concludes that to accomplish this, fields must also seek to catalyze the exploration of the many tensions inherent to equitable restructuring through the empowerment of practitioners as well as the elimination of barriers to constructive discourse.

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Section: Structure Is Politics: Structural Limitations and Responsibl...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities for enhanced institutional accountability and professionalization: The relationships between refugee resettlement organizations, humanitarian bodies, industry and academia

Ramos¹

2022

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“It’s different here” Afghan refugee maternal health experiences in the United States

Worabo,

Safi,

Gill

et al. 2024

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

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Background The number of Afghan families in the US has grown over the past two decades, yet there is a paucity of research focused on their maternal healthcare experiences. Afghan families have one of the highest fertility rates in the world and typically have large families. As the US faces rising maternal mortality rates, it is crucial to understand factors that affect health outcomes for culturally distinct groups. We aimed to better understand Afghan women’s maternal health experiences in South Texas as a step toward designing culturally sensitive care. Methods Using a qualitative descriptive design, twenty Afghan women who gave birth in the US within the past 2 years participated in audio-recorded interviews. The first and second authors conducted each interview using a semi-structured interview guide. The authors used an in vivo coding method and qualitative content analysis of the transcribed narrative data. Results We identified three broad categories with corresponding sub-categories: 1) Maternal Healthcare Experiences: pregnancy, birthing, and postpartum, 2) Communication: language barrier, relationship with husband, and health information seeking, 3) Access to Care: transportation and financing healthcare. The participants expressed perspectives of gratefulness and positive experiences, yet some described stories of poor birth outcomes that led to attitudes of mistrust and disappointment. Distinct cultural preferences were shared, providing invaluable insights for healthcare providers. Conclusions The fact that the Afghan culture is strikingly different than the US mainstream culture can lead to stereotypical assumptions, poor communication, and poor health outcomes. The voices of Afghan women should guide healthcare providers in delivering patient-centered, culturally sensitive maternity care that promotes healthy families and communities.

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“It’s Different Here” Afghan Refugee Maternal Health Experiences in the United States

Worabo,

Safi,

Gill

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The number of Afghan families in the U.S. has grown over the past two decades, yet there is a paucity of research focused on their healthcare experiences. Afghan families have one of the highest fertility rates in the world and typically have large families. As the U.S. faces rising maternal mortality rates, it is crucial to understand factors that affect health outcomes for culturally distinct groups. We aimed to better understand Afghan women’s experiences of giving birth in the U.S. and to identify protective and risk factors that affect Afghan women’s reproductive health. Methods: Twenty Afghan women who had given birth in the U.S. within the past two years participated in audio-recorded interviews. The first and second authors conducted each interview using a semi-structured interview guide. The authors used a deductive, in vivo coding method to analyze the transcribed narrative data. Results: We identified three over-arching categories with corresponding sub-categories: 1) Healthcare: pregnancy, birthing, and postpartum, 2) Culture: communication, husband, and family, 3) Access to Care: transportation, financial, and insurance. The participants expressed perspectives of gratefulness and positive experiences, yet some described stories of poor birth outcomes that led to attitudes of mistrust and disappointment. Distinct cultural preferences were shared, providing invaluable insights for healthcare providers. Conclusions: The fact that the Afghan culture is strikingly different than the U.S. mainstream culture can lead to stereotypical assumptions, poor communication, and poor health outcomes. The voices of Afghan women should guide healthcare providers in delivering patient-centered, culturally sensitive maternity care that promotes healthy families and communities. The women’s stories highlight risk factors, including communication barriers, discordant cultural values, lack of social/community networks, and lack of transportation/healthcare navigation. The protective factors to nurture are attitudes of gratefulness and resilience, strong husband support, commitment to breastfeeding, openness to child spacing, and desire to learn more.

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Considerations in designing trauma-focused interventions for displaced Afghan women

Cited by 3 publications

References 150 publications

Opportunities for enhanced institutional accountability and professionalization: The relationships between refugee resettlement organizations, humanitarian bodies, industry and academia

Opportunities for enhanced institutional accountability and professionalization: The relationships between refugee resettlement organizations, humanitarian bodies, industry and academia

“It’s different here” Afghan refugee maternal health experiences in the United States

“It’s Different Here” Afghan Refugee Maternal Health Experiences in the United States

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