Virtual Group Psychoeducational Discussions With Spanish-Speaking Mothers of Infants in Pediatric Primary Care

Overview

The goal of the proposed research is to test the feasibility and acceptability of a virtual group session which is intended to be offered universally to Spanish-speaking parents of newborns/infants attending pediatric primary care. The virtual session is intended to (1) enhance patient/family education about postpartum depression (PPD) and (2) Provide an orientation to families regarding relevant clinic and community psychosocial support resources available. The investigators will conduct a single-arm, open pilot of the session, which will be co-delivered by existing clinic staff (including social work and community outreach staff). Session contents include (1) Introduction to clinic staff, contacts, and resources (2) A video-recorded testimonial of a patient with a history of perinatal depression followed by a group discussion about/reflection on the video; (3) Review of prevalence and signs of PPD; (4) Discussion of clinic PPD screening procedures and rationale for screening; (5) Discussion of self-care and mood monitoring; (6) Discussion of relevant local resources, including information about availability of primary care resources for parents (including uninsured parents) and information about resources addressing social needs. The overall aim of the project is to Develop and pilot a virtual group augmentation of standard individual well-child care to improve (1) clinic screening procedures, discussion about and initial management of maternal depressive symptoms with immigrant Latinas and (2) patient symptom recognition, symptom disclosure, and subsequent treatment engagement

The current study is designed as an open/single-arm pilot of the intervention (no comparison arm for this initial/preliminary study, which is also being offered as a clinic service). Participants include Spanish-speaking parents of infants (6 months or younger) attending a pediatric practice. Parents are recruited via flyers posted at the clinic as well as via referral from pediatric providers and staff (who can obtain permission from family for research staff to discuss the study with the family at the visit and/or to contact the family at a later time). After screening, oral consent is obtained over the phone or zoom, and baseline measures are collected over the phone or zoom, prior to attendance at the intervention session. Intervention Sessions will be offered at regular intervals, on at least a monthly basis, via Zoom. The sessions (desiged to last 45-60 minutes), which will be observed by research staff with permission of participants, are co-facilitated by a bilingual clinic social worker and bilingual community health worker. Sessions consist of the following content: 1\) Introduction and discussion of the purpose of the session/group; (2) Overview of services available at the clinic; (3) information about postpartum depression, including a five minute video testimonial followed by facilitated discussion about (a) prevalence and signs of postpartum depression, discussion of postpartum depression screening procedures and rationale for screening at the pediatric office, discussion of self-care and social support, and discussion of community resources (a list of resources are also mailed to the participants); (4) Discussion about insurance and health care for the infant and mother, including free/sliding scale clinics offering primary care for adults and rationale for engaging in one's own primary care in addition to pediatric health care for the infant. After the session (within 2 weeks post-session) the research team collects post-session measures (see outcome measures) and conducts semi-structured interviews with participants. 6 months after the session, the research team will administer questionnaires over the phone assessing feedback about the intervention, physical and mental health services utilization, and post-intervention assessments (see outcome measures)