Evaluating a gender-specific intensive intervention programme: Young women’s voices and experiences

Abstract

Disadvantaged young women in England have been documented as having unmet needs. This has resulted in the growth of gender-specific intensive intervention programmes in which a more holistic women-centred service approach is still being implemented. Gender matters because structural inequalities (bias and disadvantaging societal conditions) that girls are born into influences health, their outcomes and associated inequalities. Policy-makers frequently call for the outcomes of intervention programmes to be quantified and whilst this is important it can miss opportunities for critical insights into the subjective experiences of participants as well as the context and circumstances within which change occurs. This paper reports evaluation findings from a prototype project (The Way Forward) with a remit focused upon holistic improvement, using gender specific methods and approaches to promote health for disadvantaged young women within a community setting. This paper documents the voices of young women within the project, illustrated through their creation of storyboards within focus group discussions, and interview data from their support workers (Engagement Workers). Findings illustrate the importance of the relational dimension of one to one support in achieving future positive changes in the lives of young women, as well as the complexity associated with attempts to improve their health. This paper therefore presents the young women's perspectives and experiences as well as an accompanying narrative discussing how the service enabled them to make health-related improvements with its main contribution being in the user voices.

Outcomes of gender-sensitivity educational interventions for healthcare providers: A systematic review

“…For example, women are not always offered the same treatments as men (Hamberg, 2008). Studies show that women are less likely than men to receive more advanced diagnostic and therapeutic interventions with the same severity of symptoms (Arber et al, 2006; Hariz and Hariz, 2000; Karim et al, 2007; Warwick-Booth and Cross, 2018). Furthermore, sexual orientation and gender minority groups such as lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans* (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender [LGBT]) patients, encounter significant challenges within the healthcare system including discrimination (Parkhill et al, 2014; Sequeira et al, 2012), which could influence health inequalities (Porter and Krinsky, 2014).…”

Using peer research processes to understand strategies to support those with severe, multiple and complex health needs

“…Interpersonal relationships between professionals and service users is a well-understood mechanism, highlighted across the evidence-base and links closely to the importance of trust, rapport and relationship building (Warwick-Booth and Cross, 2018). For example, in a systemic review of social work interventions for adults with complex health and social needs, relationships between professional and service-user was critical and indeed their conclusions suggested that: "Therapeutic relationships in which patients felt their concerns were heard and accepted, and their health and illness understood in the context of their lives, were described by all the studies to a greater or lesser extent."…”

“…Empathy and trust were key attributes appreciated by service users. While such characteristics may seem obvious in professional working, they are not always present and good interpersonal relationships are central to effective working (Hwang and Burns, 2014;Warwick-Booth and Cross, 2018). Respectfulness and dignity shows towards those individuals experiencing homelessness builds trust which, in turn, increases clients' ability to address life needs (O'Campo et al, 2009).…”

“…Other systemic challenges include poor management sharing and a lack of collective recording processes across agencies working towards supporting those with severe and multiple disadvantage (CLES, 2016). This can mean that individuals 'fall through the gaps' of service provision (Bringewatt and Gershoff, 2010;Warwick-Booth and Cross, 2018). Finally, unsupportive interpersonal relationships, irregular contact with care services and fractured family dynamics may also characterise the experiences of people facing severe and multiple disadvantage (Social Exclusion Unit, 2002).…”

Editorial

“…Within the social work and social development circle, many researchers and practitioners have been calling for a gender perspective to capture the socio-cultural impact on people's lived experiences (Baum, 2016;Hicks, 2014;Sandlund et al, 2017). Some social work practitioners are developing 'gender-specific intervention' to address critical gender issues in supporting the disadvantaged population (LeCroy et al, 2018;Piller et al, 2019;Warwick-Booth & Cross, 2018). Three articles published in this issue contribute to this movement for gender sensitivity, in seeking to understand the life situation of different clientele population in Chinese communities from a gender perspective.…”