Insights in public health: Bridging the research to practice gap to prevent maternal stress and depression.

Achieving Healthy People 2020 goals to improve health and prevent disease requires the implementation of effective public health programs. 1 An issue often cited as impeding improvement in public health is the gap between what is known through science and research to improve health and healthcare outcomes and what is delivered in every day practice.2 Several efforts have evolved to address this gap: among them are The National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA),3 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) The Guide to Community Preventive Services,4 and the emergence of the fields of Public Health Systems and Services Research (PHSSR)5 and Dissemination and Implementation (D&I) Science.6 Despite the increased focus on translation of research to practice, challenges persist in the uptake of evidenced-based practice. Two challenges in particular are relevant to the prevention work presented in this paper. First, the evidence-base is scant in many areas of preventive public health.7 Where evidence is available, it may be for a population different than intended (eg, reducing stress in mothers of pre-term babies rather than all mothers) or be only partially related to the construct of focus (eg, parenting stress or job related stress rather than stress as a whole). Second, public health service delivery is often (and appropriately) set in community-based organizations (CBO). Yet, CBOs experience with and understanding of evidenced-based practice may differ substantially from their academic colleagues. CBOs may not have access to current research findings or the specialized training to readily interpret and utilize research findings. Additionally, CBOs may have limited resources to apply towards the implementation of evidenced-based programs such as staff training and monitoring to assure fidelity. This paper describes a research to practice partnership among university-based researchers, two community-based organizations and the Maternal Child Health Branch of the Hawai‘i Department of Health (HDOH) with additional funding from the O'Neill Foundation. The YWCA Hawai‘i Island (YWCA) and Child and Family Services O‘ahu (CFS) provide home visiting services to eligible families via contracts with the Department of Health. YWCA and CFS bring detailed knowledge of the resources that may be leveraged, and challenges experienced within communities, that influence maternal stress and depression. They also bring an essential infrastructure for program delivery. The Department of Health with funding from the Health Services Resources Administration (HRSA) provides funding to build the infrastructure for evidence-based home visiting to promote and improve maternal and child health. The O'Neill Foundation's mission is to partner with nonprofits to improve the quality of life for families and communities. More specifically, the O'Neill Foundation wishes to address maternal trauma, anxiety, depression, and stress that may create an environment for children that negatively impacts their development, education, and health across the life course.8 The aims of the partnership are to: identify and select an evidenced-based intervention to reduce stress and prevent depression in low-income women with children; implement the intervention with fidelity and pilot test study measures; test the intervention's effectiveness via a randomized control trial (RCT); disseminate findings; and identify the next topic for inquiry and investigation. Aim one involved completing a literature review to identify evidenced-based interventions to address maternal stress and prevent depression. Literature searches were performed on the following databases: Cinahl, PsychInfo, PubMed, Sociological Abstracts and Web of Science using pre-determined search terms. Two exclusion rounds were conducted and the remaining articles were reviewed with a common template by a representative from each CBO and the academic institution. Article reviews were discussed on weekly conference calls. The strengths and limitations of each study were described and reviewers had time to ask questions to enhance their understanding of the content and merits of reviewed articles. Thus, the review process facilitated the selection of an appropriate intervention, Mothers and Babies (MB), to adopt and test in the local communities. The review process expanded the CBOs' capacity to conduct literature reviews as a mechanism to inform future program and policy changes. Mothers and Babies (MB) is a cognitive-behavioral group intervention developed for low-income and minority perinatal populations faced with multiple stressors.9 The MB Course integrates proven cognitive-behavioral methods for managing stress and reducing psychosocial symptoms.9 Women in the MB Course receive 6 two-hour intervention sessions delivered weekly in a group format by a mental health provider or home visiting staff member trained on the MB Course. Each session contains didactic instruction on core content, as well as activities and group discussion. The 6-week MB Course is divided into three modules: Pleasant Activities, Thoughts, and Contact with Others. Each module is covered in 2 sessions. The modules map onto core cognitive-behavioral approaches for the treatment and prevention of depression and stress reduction. Between group sessions, home visitors provide brief (approximately 5–10 minutes) 1-on-1 reinforcement of key content covered during group sessions.10 Aim two involved implementing the MB curriculum into current program operations. Two days of training was provided on the MB curriculum to CBO staff. The intervention was then integrated into standard home visiting services for a small group of 5–8 women at the YWCA Hawai‘i Island and CFS O‘ahu. Intervention sessions were videotaped and reviewed weekly tofacilitate fidelity to the curriculum and address any challenges that may have emerged during the group sessions. The pilot test findings showed significant post intervention improvements in coping, and reduction in maternal depressive symptoms, and pilot study participants expressed enthusiasm for the MB curriculum. Combined, these finding supported our intention to move to the RCT phase of the project. Aim three is underway. Power analyses and sample size calculations were completed. The intended sample size is 120 women. The study design includes data collection by trained interviewers at baseline, prior to randomization, and at 7-weeks and 6-months post intervention. CBO staff and research team members work closely together to introduce and describe the study to eligible women. Research team members complete the consent and randomization to services-as-usual or services-as-usual plus MB. Baseline data has been collected with 81 mothers using validated measures of key constructs such as stress, depression, coping, problem-solving and parent-child interaction. Measures were reviewed by the CBOs and DOH before inclusion in the study. To date, 6 cohorts of mothers have been recruited to and participated in the RCT and a 7th cohort is in recruitment. The RCT is scheduled for completion in December, 2014. CBO engagement in the steps of the RCT not only enhances their capacity to ascertain the strengths and limitations of studies reported in the academic literature but also demystifies the research process by making transparent key values in academic research and their relation to establishing evidence. The research to practice partnership increases CBO capacity for internal evaluation of program outcomes by strengthening the organization's use of valid measures and criteria for measuring program performance and outcomes. Aims four and five are to be carried out collaboratively pending completion of the RCT. Optimally, dissemination of findings will involve all members of the partnership working together to analyze and interpret study findings, as well as select forums to share the outcomes. The final aim is to assess what questions remain related to program performance and effectiveness and to redirect the partnership activities to answer the newly identified questions. In the research to practice partnership described here, each partner plays an important role in improving services and outcomes for low-income mothers and children. At the national and foundation level, funding toward training, technical assistance, program monitoring, quality improvement and research is needed. The Department of Health and the CBOs must carefully explore options and make data-informed decisions about adopting, adapting, and implementing innovations to prevent maternal stress and depression in low-income mothers. CBO's must continue to advocate for the populations they serve and researchers must apply appropriate study design and rigor to answer the questions that emerge through the partnership. Through this iterative process of inquiry and application public health delivery is expanded and refined to attain the goals of health equity and quality of life set out in Healthy People 2020.