"I'll tell you what's important to me ": lessons for women's health screening.

BACKGROUND: Providers face increasing demands to screen for various health issues. Family medicine, primary care, and obstetric providers are encouraged to screen women universally for intimate partner violence, which could be challenging without comprehensive screening tools. The screening expectations and demands motivated providers and staff in south-central Appalachia (U.S.) to engage community members in streamlining women's health screening tools, and integrating intimate partner violence screening questions, through a Human-Centered Design (HCD) process. The objective of this article is to present participants' experiences with and perceptions of the HCD process for developing screening tools for women's health. METHODS: This was a qualitative, phenomenological study conducted with community members (n = 4) and providers and staff (n = 7) who participated in the HCD process. Sampling was purposive and opportunistic. An experienced qualitative researcher conducted open-ended, semi-structured interviews with participants. Interviews were transcribed and coded for thematic analysis. RESULTS: Community members reported that in the HCD sessions they wanted clinicians to understand the importance of timing and trust in health screening. They focused on the importance of taking time to build trust before asking about intimate partner violence; not over-focusing on body weight as this can preclude trust and disclosure of other issues; and understanding the role of historical oppression and racial discrimination in contributing to healthcare mistrust. Providers and staff reported that they recognized the importance of these concerns during the HCD process. CONCLUSIONS: Community members provided critical feedback for designing appropriate tools for screening for women's health. The findings suggest that co-designing screening tools for use in clinical settings can facilitate communication of core values. How, when, and how often screening questions are asked are as important as what is asked-especially as related to intimate partner violence and weight.

"The elephant in the room;" a qualitative study of perinatal fears in opioid use disorder treatment in Southern Appalachia.

BACKGROUND: Diagnoses of perinatal opioid use disorder (OUD) continue to rise in the United States. Patients and providers report obstacles to OUD treatment access. Difficulties include legal ambiguity related to Social Services notification requirements following a birth to people using opioids or in medication-assisted treatment for OUD. METHODS: Through semi-structured interviews, participant-observation, and a focus group conducted in a mostly rural, region of the Southern United States (where perinatal OUD is more prevalent), patients' and providers' perspectives about perinatal substance use treatment were initially sought for a larger study. The findings presented here are from a subset analysis of patients' experiences and perspectives. Following ethics review and exemption determination, a total of 27 patient participants were opportunistically, convenience, and/or purposively sampled and recruited to participate in interviews and/or a focus group. Data were analyzed using modified Grounded Theory. RESULTS: When asked about overall experiences with and barriers to accessing perinatal substance use treatment, 11 of 27 participants reported concerns about Social Services involvement resulting from disclosure of their substance use during pregnancy. In the subset analysis, prevalent themes were Fears of Social Services Involvement, Preparation for Delivery, and Providers Addressing Fears. CONCLUSIONS: Perinatal OUD patients may seek substance use treatment with existing fears of Social Services involvement. Patients appreciate providers' efforts to prepare them for this potential reality. Providers should become aware of how their own hospital systems, counties, states, and countries interpret laws governing notification requirements. By becoming aware of patients' fears, providers can be ready to discuss the implications of Social Services involvement, promote patient-centered decision-making, and increase trust.