Listening to What Matters

Project status: Complete

Research area: Population Health > Intergenerational Health

The Listening to What Matters study aimed to understand the experiences of refugee background parents and the health and social care professionals caring for them in pregnancy and early parenthood during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for the entire Victorian community.

Listening to What Matters is a collaborative project between Murdoch Children’s Research Institute’s Refugee and Migrant Research Program and the Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture. The project is designed to understand the experiences of refugee background families accessing maternity services and early childhood healthcare in Melbourne during the pandemic.

Interviews were conducted with women of refugee background belonging to the Karen, Assyrian Chaldean, Iraqi, Syrian, Afghan, Sudanese and South Sudanese communities in Melbourne; and with health and social care professionals who provided pregnancy or early parenting care to families of refugee background during the pandemic.

The findings indicated that some women of refugee background experienced negative impacts on their mental and social health during the pandemic, which had the potential to amplify pre-existing structural inequalities.

To lessen these impacts in future pandemics or other large-scale disasters, the research team recommended:

Early and ongoing community engagement, including consultation with community leaders and trusted service providers
The co-design of health information and dissemination strategies by and with community networks and leaders, as well as trusted service providers
Presenting health information in a variety of formats (particularly audio visual)
Longer telehealth appointment length for women who require an interpreter and the incorporation of face-to-face care at regular intervals
Government and organisational investment in increasing diversity and representation in the health and social care workforce to improve cultural safety and experiences of care, including bicultural workers and interpreters