Kristjanson Amanda J, Hardman Madison P, Penner Kailey E, Gornik Megan E, Pryor Teaghan A M, Petty Sarah K, Alcolado Gillian M, Furer Patricia, Reynolds Kristin A
Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Front Health Serv. 2022 Aug 19;2:957368. doi: 10.3389/frhs.2022.957368. eCollection 2022.
Pregnant and postpartum women are at a heightened risk for the development or worsening of mental health problems, with elevated rates of mood and anxiety disorders noted across studies. Timely access to mental health supports is critical during the perinatal period (spanning pregnancy to 1 year postpartum), to mitigate potential negative impacts on mother and child. In general adult populations, a small body of research has highlighted the association between being waitlisted for mental health services with a deterioration in mental health. Given the influx of changes experienced in the perinatal period, this population may face unique challenges around being waitlisted. There is a lack of research exploring the experiences of perinatal women waitlisted for psychological services. The current study seeks to understand the experiences of perinatal women randomized to the waitlist condition of a randomized controlled trial.
= 20 participants (4 pregnant, 16 postpartum) from Central Canada who were enrolled in a novel online self-directed intervention for perinatal anxiety completed a virtual qualitative interview concerning their experience during the 6-week waitlist period for this randomized controlled trial. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed according to reflexive thematic analysis.
Seven main themes were identified, depicting the waitlist experiences of perinatal participants: (a) "There is always a waitlist" (sub-themes: service availability, need to seek out services pre-emptively); (b) Timing of support access is vital during the perinatal period (sub-themes: prenatal, postpartum); (c) Responses to being waitlisted (sub-themes: disappointment, neutral, relief, "there's probably somebody that needs it more than I do"); (d) Identification of helpful supports during the waitlist period (sub-themes: formal supports, informal supports); (e) Connections with research team (sub-themes: communication, resource provision); (f) Impact of waitlist experience on desire to start program (sub-themes: excitement, "out of sight, out of mind," nervousness); and (g) Improving the waitlist experience (sub-themes: communication, resource provision, triaging).
Findings highlight the need for timely access to mental health supports during the perinatal period and offer several recommendations for improving the waitlist experience, including providing more frequent waitlist status updates, providing more direct access to intermediate interventions, and triaging patients based on clinical need.
孕妇和产后妇女出现心理健康问题或使现有问题恶化的风险更高，多项研究表明情绪和焦虑障碍的发生率有所上升。在围产期（从怀孕到产后1年）及时获得心理健康支持对于减轻对母婴的潜在负面影响至关重要。在一般成年人群中，少量研究强调了在心理健康服务等待名单上与心理健康恶化之间的关联。鉴于围产期经历的变化大量涌入，这一人群在等待名单方面可能面临独特挑战。目前缺乏对等待心理服务的围产期妇女经历的研究。本研究旨在了解被随机分配到一项随机对照试验等待名单组的围产期妇女的经历。
来自加拿大中部的20名参与者（4名孕妇，16名产后妇女）参加了一项针对围产期焦虑的新型在线自我指导干预，就其在这项随机对照试验6周等待期的经历完成了一次虚拟定性访谈。访谈进行了录音、转录，并根据反思性主题分析进行了分析。
确定了七个主要主题，描述了围产期参与者的等待名单经历：（a）“总是有等待名单”（子主题：服务可用性、需要提前寻求服务）；（b）围产期获得支持的时机至关重要（子主题：产前、产后）；（c）对进入等待名单的反应（子主题：失望、中立、宽慰、“可能有人比我更需要它”）；（d）在等待名单期间确定有用的支持（子主题：正式支持、非正式支持）；（e）与研究团队的联系（子主题：沟通、资源提供）；（f）等待名单经历对开始项目意愿的影响（子主题：兴奋、“眼不见，心不烦”、紧张）；以及（g）改善等待名单经历（子主题：沟通、资源提供、分诊）。
研究结果强调了围产期及时获得心理健康支持的必要性，并为改善等待名单经历提供了多项建议，包括更频繁地更新等待名单状态、提供更直接的中间干预措施以及根据临床需求对患者进行分诊。
