Document text
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Jo Connor
Organization: UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
Fiscal Year: 2024
Award: $608,507
Funding agency: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
ABSTRACT
Female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) affects girls and women throughout the world, with 3 million girls cut
each year. The highest rates of FGM/C are in East Africa. There are significant reproductive, sexual, and
mental health consequences for girls and women impacted by FGM/C. Healthcare providers (HCPs) require
training to meet these needs, yet globally there is a dearth of training programs. Effectiveness studies of
FGM/C training are even rarer. Tanzania has a high FGM/C rate, yet we found in preliminary studies that
healthcare students were unprepared to meet the need of these patients. The goal of the proposed study is to
develop training materials specific to the needs of HCPs within Tanzania, deliver a pilot intervention/training
program, and study the effectiveness of the program at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences
(MUHAS). In order to meet that goal, it is critical that training materials are developed carefully, with attention
to both cultural and ethical concerns facing healthcare providers within the country. There are three specific
aims. In Aim 1 we will conduct a social ecological needs assessment of the healthcare needs of women in
Tanzania who have experienced FGM/C. The results of Aim 1 will be used to adapt a promising training
program to accomplish our second aim. In Aim 2 we will develop a FGM/C training tailored to the Tanzanian
context. A core component of Aim 2 will be to use a train the trainer program. In Aim 3 we will evaluate the
effectiveness of the training through a randomized, controlled, single blinded trial of the training (intervention)
against a waitlist control arm (n=200 students per arm; 400 in total). In Aim 3 we will assess medical, nursing,
and midwifery students’ improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and clinical skills. Development and testing of a
tailored training course about FGM/C for students in health care, if effective, has high potential to be integrated
into existing curriculum; and be widely adopted as a new standard of training for health professionals across
both low prevalence and high prevalence FGM/C areas.
Terms: <Active Follow-up><Address><Adopted><Affect><Africa><Ally><Area><Attention><Attitude><Bleeding><Blinded><COVID crisis><COVID epidemic><COVID pandemic><COVID-19 crisis><COVID-19 epidemic><COVID-19 era><COVID-19 global health crisis><COVID-19 global pandemic><COVID-19 health crisis><COVID-19 pandemic><COVID-19 period><COVID-19 public health crisis><COVID-19 years><Caring><Climate><Clinical Skills><Comment><Commentary><Communication><Communities><Counseling><Country><Curriculum><Development><Discipline><Discipline of Nursing><Dyspareunia><Editorial Comment><Educational Curriculum><Educational process of instructing><Emergencies><Emergency Situation><Ethics><Evaluation><Faculty><Female Genital Mutilation><Focus Groups><Genital Organs><Genitalia><Geographic Area><Geographic Locations><Geographic Region><Geographical Location><Goals><Health><Health Care Professional><Health Care Providers><Health Personnel><Health Professional><Healthcare><Healthcare Delivery><Healthcare Providers><Healthcare professional><Healthcare worker><Hemorrhage><High Prevalence><History><Individual><Infant><Infant Care><Infection><Infibulations><Intervention><Intervention Strategies><Interview><Knowledge><Legal><Low Prevalence><MD students><Medical><Medical Students><Mental Health><Mental Hygiene><Meteorological Climate><Midwifery><Modeling><Mothers><Needs Assessment><Neonatal Intensive Care><Newborn Infant Intensive Care><Nursing><Nursing Field><Nursing Profession><Nursing Students><Outcome><Pain><Painful><Participant><Patients><Primary Prevention><Procedures><Program Effectiveness><Psychological Health><Published Comment><Pupil Nurses><Randomized><Randomized, Controlled Trials><Recording of previous events><Reproductive Health><Research><Research Priority><Risk><SARS-CoV-2 epidemic><SARS-CoV-2 global health crisis><SARS-CoV-2 global pandemic><SARS-CoV-2 pandemic><SARS-coronavirus-2 epidemic><SARS-coronavirus-2 pandemic><Sampling><Science><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 epidemic><Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome CoV 2 pandemic><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 epidemic><Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 pandemic><Sex Functioning><Sexual Health><Structure><Students><Survey Instrument><Surveys><Tanzania><Teaching><Testing><Trainers Training><Training><Training Programs><Universities><Viewpoint><Waiting Lists><Woman><active followup><arm><assess effectiveness><baby care><blood loss><climatic><clinical care><clinical exam><clinical examination><compare to control><comparison control><coronavirus disease 2019 crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic><coronavirus disease 2019 global health crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 global pandemic><coronavirus disease 2019 health crisis><coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic><coronavirus disease 2019 public health crisis><coronavirus disease crisis><coronavirus disease epidemic><coronavirus disease pandemic><coronavirus disease-19 global pandemic><coronavirus disease-19 pandemic><determine effectiveness><developmental><disparity in health><effectiveness assessment><effectiveness evaluation><effectiveness study><ethical><evaluate effectiveness><examine effectiveness><experience><female outcomes><follow up><follow-up><followed up><followup><geographic site><girls><health and care delivery><health care><health care delivery><health care needs assessment><health care needs determination><health care personnel><health care worker><health delivery systems><health disparity><health provider><health services delivery><health training><health workforce><healthcare needs assessment><healthcare needs determination><healthcare personnel><histories><improved><infant health care><infant healthcare><interest><interventional strategy><lesson plans><medical personnel><medical school students><newborn care><obstetrical complication><outcomes among females><outcomes among women><outcomes in females><outcomes in women><programs><psychologic><psychological><randomisation><randomization><randomized control trial><randomly assigned><screening><screenings><secondary analysis><severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global health crisis><severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 global pandemic><sexual functioning><single-blind trial><skills><social><treatment provider><urinary><waitlist><women's outcomes>