Title: The HAPPEE Partnership Project (Humanities and Arts in Preventing Pre-eclampsia complications through community Engagement and Education)
Funder: Medical Research Council

Abstract: The HAPPEE Partnership Project engages an international cross-disciplinary team to create a novel mix of expertise aiming to engage and empower women and communities affected by pre-eclampsia. HAPPEE will strengthen UK and LIC based research, knowledge translation and advocacy. We are anthropologists, creative artists, writers, theatre-makers, filmmakers, social scientists, midwives, obstetricians and health advocates. The core endeavour will be partnership building, strengthening UK and LIC links and developing new relationships with complementary expertise. HAPPEE seeks to better understand socio-cultural and religious contexts through community engagement via the creative arts to improve education and health awareness of pre-eclampsia and its complications. We aim to understand local experiences, priorities and values of health care, pregnancy and birth and their relevance for improving adverse outcome for mothers and babies. Pre-eclampsia is a disorder unique to pregnancy and the postpartum period, characterised by high blood pressure and the presence of protein in the mother's urine. Approximately 830 women die in pregnancy and childbirth everyday. Preeclampsia is a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide and leads to 60,000 maternal deaths each year. Nearly all deaths due to pre-eclampsia are preventable. As such, the chance of dying from pre-eclampsia in the UK is now less than 1 in a million, however more than 100 women still die every day globally from this condition. Pre-eclampsia can be unpredictable and rapidly advancing. Severe complications include eclamptic seizures or stroke due to uncontrolled high blood pressure, kidney and liver dysfunction and blood clotting disorders as well as stillbirth, growth restricted babies with a risk of cerebral palsy. Effective management involves early recognition and initiation of treatments in partnership with women. Women's understanding is key to implementing this strategy. The HAPPEE project is divided into three main phases. Development of the partnership will overarch all phases and will be facilitated via regular face-to-face and virtual meetings locally and internationally. Phase 1 involves exploring context and undertaking qualitative work in Zimbabwe and Haiti. Baseline information will be collected regarding maternity care structures locally. Each country will undertake face-to-face semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Participants may include women previously affected by pre-eclampsia, pregnant women, new mothers, male and female decision makers, community leaders, traditional birth attendants, traditional healers and local healthcare professionals. Efforts will be made to ensure that all groups are represented, even those that are hard to reach. The aim is not only to scope levels of knowledge with respect to screening tests, symptoms, warning signs or perceived causes of preeclampsia and eclampsia but also to explore socio-cultural, historical and language barriers to accessing appropriate care. Phase 2 of the project involves the development of culturally sensitive and context specific educational materials to address these barriers. These will be developed with direct input from community members and coproduced. We envisage these may be in the form of short film, animations or interactive community theatre workshops. This collaboration with the creative arts will explore different medium as a way to engage communities, investigate their beliefs but also as vehicles to deliver health awareness messages. Phase 3 of the HAPPEE project will centre on implementing the resources created locally in Zimbabwe and Haiti. This phase will include end-user feedback from women, families and healthcare professionals with appropriate adjustments in the resources accordingly. HAPPEE seeks to create a bridge between the research community and women and the wider community enabling the flow of ideas, opinions and learning.


Research activity codes: 2.3 PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS;3.1 PRIMARY PREVENTION INTERVENTIONS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOURS OR PROMOTE WELL-BEING;7.1 INDIVIDUAL CARE NEEDS
Health categories: REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND CHILDBIRTH