Family Adversity and Resilience Research Program
Health Equity and Receipt of Care Study (HEARS)
The Health Equity and Receipt of Care Study (HEARS) is a research study focusing on the healthcare journeys of Black and Latina women (18 years or older) who navigated pregnancy during the pandemic. HEARS is a sub-study of the larger Parenting Infants in the Pandemic Study (PIPS), a study to learn the ways in which parents with infants were affected by the pandemic. Participants of HEARS participated in the PIPS Study.
Our hope is to understand how racism and pandemic-related stress have shaped healthcare experiences. Through your stories, we aim to cultivate empathy, shed light on challenges, and amplify the voices of Black and Latina mothers. By understanding your experiences, we hope to contribute insights that inform healthcare practices, ensuring they are more inclusive, responsive, and supportive of diverse backgrounds and needs.
What Does the Study Involve?
- In the first phase of HEARS (completed), Dr. Rocio Chang and Ms. Adriana Sowell completed focus groups with mothers. Focus groups were semi-structured and asked about healthcare experiences (both lived and vicarious) and racism-related stress as it relates to healthcare interactions.
- We are now in the second phase of HEARS (ongoing). Mothers who choose to participate in HEARS are asked to complete a survey with questions about things like social determinants of health, cultural health knowledge, and experiences with medical racism. Subjects then complete a virtual, semi-structured interview. The interview has questions about racism, the weathering hypothesis (association between racism and earlier aging/health decline), matrilineal healthcare experiences, and ways in which medical racism is experienced and carried forward.
- The survey and interview take about 2 hours to complete. Participants can skip any questions they do not wish to answer. Participants are compensated $50 for completing the survey and interview.
Dr. Grasso, Department of Psychiatry, IRB Number 21-143OSC-1.