“She’s a Family Member”: How Community Health Workers Impact Perinatal Mothers’ Stress Through Social-Emotional Support and Connections to Programs and Resources
Introduction: This study examines whether being a client in the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB program reduces stress and improves mental wellbeing for perinatal mothers. The HUB works to improve health by connecting mothers to community health workers (CHWs) who assess mothers’ risk factors and connec...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Mary Ann Liebert
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Health Equity |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/heq.2024.0038 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850138822040354816 |
|---|---|
| author | Justin Rex Nichole Fifer Karen D. Johnson-Webb Maddi Menich Alyissa Horn Carly Salamone Holly T. Renzhofer Pappada Camelia Arsene Crystal Martin Malcolm Cunningham |
| author_facet | Justin Rex Nichole Fifer Karen D. Johnson-Webb Maddi Menich Alyissa Horn Carly Salamone Holly T. Renzhofer Pappada Camelia Arsene Crystal Martin Malcolm Cunningham |
| author_sort | Justin Rex |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: This study examines whether being a client in the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB program reduces stress and improves mental wellbeing for perinatal mothers. The HUB works to improve health by connecting mothers to community health workers (CHWs) who assess mothers’ risk factors and connect them to evidence-based care pathways to reduce known risks associated with adverse birth outcomes. Methods: A one-time survey of 119 mothers in the program and monthly semi-structured interviews with 41 mothers, totaling 220 interviews. Results: Almost all mothers reported significantly reduced stress after joining the program. The majority also reported an improved sense of safety, security, and hope. Interviews show additional moderate reductions in stress over time while being a program client. Interviews also indicate that mothers’ relationship with their CHW is key to these improvements: CHW provide social-emotional support, access to tangible goods, and help navigating social service bureaucracies. Discussion: The results support the broader literature on the health benefits of community health workers and address identified gaps within the literature, which has infrequently studied CHWs in the perinatal context. Conclusion: CHWs may be one way to address racial inequity in birth outcomes linked to infant mortality, given research on the links between inequitable exposure to stressors, the impacts of racism-induced stress, and preterm and low birth weight babies. Further, the findings indicate the need to better support CHWs, and the programs that utilize them, with increased funding, insurance reimbursement, and certification. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-97f948d30c734665a2183ff385cab2da |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2473-1242 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Mary Ann Liebert |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health Equity |
| spelling | doaj-art-97f948d30c734665a2183ff385cab2da2025-08-20T02:30:30ZengMary Ann LiebertHealth Equity2473-12422024-12-018146947910.1089/heq.2024.0038“She’s a Family Member”: How Community Health Workers Impact Perinatal Mothers’ Stress Through Social-Emotional Support and Connections to Programs and ResourcesJustin Rex0Nichole Fifer1Karen D. Johnson-Webb2Maddi Menich3Alyissa Horn4Carly Salamone5Holly T. Renzhofer Pappada6Camelia Arsene7Crystal Martin8Malcolm Cunningham9Political Science, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA.Center for Regional Development, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA.School of Earth, Environment, & Society, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA.Center for Regional Development, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, USA.The Rucks Group, LLC, Dayton, Ohio, USA.Fisher-Titus Medical Center, Norwalk, Ohio, USA.Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, USA.ProMedica Health System, University of Toledo School of Population Health, Toledo, Ohio, USA.Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, USA.Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.Introduction: This study examines whether being a client in the Northwest Ohio Pathways HUB program reduces stress and improves mental wellbeing for perinatal mothers. The HUB works to improve health by connecting mothers to community health workers (CHWs) who assess mothers’ risk factors and connect them to evidence-based care pathways to reduce known risks associated with adverse birth outcomes. Methods: A one-time survey of 119 mothers in the program and monthly semi-structured interviews with 41 mothers, totaling 220 interviews. Results: Almost all mothers reported significantly reduced stress after joining the program. The majority also reported an improved sense of safety, security, and hope. Interviews show additional moderate reductions in stress over time while being a program client. Interviews also indicate that mothers’ relationship with their CHW is key to these improvements: CHW provide social-emotional support, access to tangible goods, and help navigating social service bureaucracies. Discussion: The results support the broader literature on the health benefits of community health workers and address identified gaps within the literature, which has infrequently studied CHWs in the perinatal context. Conclusion: CHWs may be one way to address racial inequity in birth outcomes linked to infant mortality, given research on the links between inequitable exposure to stressors, the impacts of racism-induced stress, and preterm and low birth weight babies. Further, the findings indicate the need to better support CHWs, and the programs that utilize them, with increased funding, insurance reimbursement, and certification.https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/heq.2024.0038health disparitiesminority healthpregnancyreproductive health |
| spellingShingle | Justin Rex Nichole Fifer Karen D. Johnson-Webb Maddi Menich Alyissa Horn Carly Salamone Holly T. Renzhofer Pappada Camelia Arsene Crystal Martin Malcolm Cunningham “She’s a Family Member”: How Community Health Workers Impact Perinatal Mothers’ Stress Through Social-Emotional Support and Connections to Programs and Resources Health Equity health disparities minority health pregnancy reproductive health |
| title | “She’s a Family Member”: How Community Health Workers Impact Perinatal Mothers’ Stress Through Social-Emotional Support and Connections to Programs and Resources |
| title_full | “She’s a Family Member”: How Community Health Workers Impact Perinatal Mothers’ Stress Through Social-Emotional Support and Connections to Programs and Resources |
| title_fullStr | “She’s a Family Member”: How Community Health Workers Impact Perinatal Mothers’ Stress Through Social-Emotional Support and Connections to Programs and Resources |
| title_full_unstemmed | “She’s a Family Member”: How Community Health Workers Impact Perinatal Mothers’ Stress Through Social-Emotional Support and Connections to Programs and Resources |
| title_short | “She’s a Family Member”: How Community Health Workers Impact Perinatal Mothers’ Stress Through Social-Emotional Support and Connections to Programs and Resources |
| title_sort | she s a family member how community health workers impact perinatal mothers stress through social emotional support and connections to programs and resources |
| topic | health disparities minority health pregnancy reproductive health |
| url | https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/heq.2024.0038 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT justinrex shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT nicholefifer shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT karendjohnsonwebb shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT maddimenich shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT alyissahorn shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT carlysalamone shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT hollytrenzhoferpappada shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT cameliaarsene shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT crystalmartin shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources AT malcolmcunningham shesafamilymemberhowcommunityhealthworkersimpactperinatalmothersstressthroughsocialemotionalsupportandconnectionstoprogramsandresources |