Kim Critchley

Social Support Needs Identified by Mothers Affected by Intimate Partner Violence

In order to offer optimal supports and services for mothers affected by intimate partner violence (IPV), an understanding of these mothers’ perceptions of support needs, resources, barriers to support, and preferences for support intervention is warranted. Moreover, the growing recognition of the effects of IPV on maternal–infant relationships and of the importance of these early relationships to long-term child health outcomes suggests interventions are needed to support optimal maternal–infant relationships in these families. Thus, 64 mothers exposed to IPV when their infants were below 12 months of age participated in a retrospective qualitative study to identify mothers’ support needs, resources, barriers to support, and preferences for specific support interventions to promote optimal mother–infant relationships. Participants identified both personal needs (including needs for leaving or staying with the violent partner), along with intertwined needs to care for, and help, their infants cope with the experience of violence. Mothers reported that integrated services that include information and practical support from professionals with emotional and affirmation support from peers would promote positive, nurturing mother–infant relationships and healthy child development.

Impact of biogas digesters on wood utilisation and self-reported back pain for women living on rural Kenyan smallholder dairy farms

Abstract Women living on rural Kenyan dairy farms spend significant amounts of time collecting wood for cooking. Biogas digesters, which generate biogas for cooking from the anaerobic decomposition of livestock manure, are an alternative fuel source. The objective of this study was to quantify the quality of life and health benefits of installing biogas digesters on rural Kenyan dairy farms with respect to wood utilisation. Women from 62 farms (31 biogas farms and 31 referent farms) participated in interviews to determine reliance on wood and the impact of biogas digesters on this reliance. Self-reported back pain, time spent collecting wood and money spent on wood were significantly lower (p<0.01) for the biogas group, compared to referent farms. Multivariable linear regression showed that wood consumption increased by 2 lbs/day for each additional family member living on a farm. For an average family of three people, the addition of one cow was associated with increased wood consumption by 1.0 lb/day on biogas farms but by 4.4 lbs/day on referent farms (significant interaction variable – likely due to additional hot water for cleaning milk collection equipment). Biogas digesters represent a potentially important technology that can reduce reliance on wood fuel and improve health for Kenyan dairy farmers.

Knowledge Translation Case Study: A Rural Community Collaborates with Researchers to Investigate Health Issues

Introduction: Knowledge translation implies the exchange and synthesis of knowledge between researchers and research users, employing a high level of communication and participation, not only to share the knowledge found through research, but also to implement subsequent strategies. Prince Edward Island, a rural province in Canada, provided the setting to exchange knowledge between researchers and a rural community on the health issues affecting children. Methods: A case study reports census data, demographic trends, and information about health issues immediate to the community. These focus groups were held to plan solutions to the communitys health priorities. The process was participatory, characterized by community involvement. Results: Those participating in the focus groups were interested in research findings and literature to solve local problems. Parenting and mental health were determined to be priority issues requiring broader community engagement. The process of translating knowledge into action after the focus groups met lacked widespread involvement of the community. Discussion: Although encouraged to do so, the larger rural community did not participate in examining research findings or in planning interventions. The parents in this community may not have perceived themselves as having influence in the process or goals of the project.

Air Quality And Children’s Health In Rural Kenya

This paper investigated the impact of air quality on the respiratory health of young children living in rural Kenya. We examined particulate matter concentration and the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and ozone in various areas frequented by pre-school age children in rural Kenya. We were most interested in comparing air quality in the bedrooms and cook houses. Children spent nearly four hours in cook houses with their mothers where air quality was significantly worse than bedrooms. Airborne particulate matter was highest in cook houses, followed by bedrooms, yards and roads, while it was lowest in the forest. Nitrogen dioxide and ozone levels were also higher in cook houses than in bedrooms although there was no difference in sulphur dioxide between the two areas. We examined children’s respiratory illnesses, as indicated by health assessments and interviews with mothers, with their estimated exposure to poor air quality. We found no evidence of a link between our measures of air quality and respiratory illness although the short-term nature of the study may have contributed to our lack of association.

Air quality, respiratory health and wood use for women converting from low- to high-efficiency stoves in rural Kenya

Over 90% of women in rural Kenya rely on biomass to meet their cooking and heating needs and most of these women use the traditional three-stone cookstove. In the fall of 2011, Farmers Helping Farmers, a non-government organization from Prince Edward Island, installed more efficient cookstoves for a group of women in the Kiirua region, about four hours north of Nairobi. We assessed air quality, wood use, and the respiratory health of women before (summer, 2011) and after (summer 2013) the new stoves were installed. Although we found no difference in the concentrations of volatile organic compounds before and after the installation of stoves, women used less fuel and spent less time exposed to poor quality air. We documented significant improvements in the respiratory health of women after new stoves were installed, both in self-reported illnesses over the