RESEARCH
Collective Cultural Research
Partnering with GGD, Somastel, Nisa 4 Nisa, and VU (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), The Road of Hope Foundation led a research initiative called “Collectief Cultuureel Onderzoek” (CCO) or “Collective Cultural Research” in English, which aimed to bridge the gap between healthcare professionals and pregnant women or mothers from 4 different backgrounds and nationalities (Syrians, Eritrean, Moroccan and Somali). The CCO gathered experiences from both groups, aiming to provide intercultural training for professionals to improve the healthcare support for newcomer women during pregnancy and after childbirth. It started in August 2022 and ended in July 2023, presenting its first results.
Developments in this collaboration
As part of the challenge of developing knowledge that would promote a real impact on the quality of life of refugee women, we gathered stories from 32 interviewed women from 4 cultures and created a play telling stories on how newcomers and migrants have experienced working with healthcare professionals.
What does the experience of pregnancy and childbirth look like for newly arrived women with a refugee background? What is it like to deal with cultural differences in the face of the common challenges of motherhood?
These are some of the issues addressed by the play “Cultureluurs”, which brings to the stage the experience of migrant women from their first 1,000 days of motherhood, from pregnancy onwards, with health professionals.
The play had two special presentations for health professionals and partner organizations. The first presentation took place at Podium Mozaiek, in November of 2023, and was part of the Health Week program promoted by the GGD. After the play, the audience was divided into discussion groups.
The second presentation, in June of 2024, was part of GGD Amsterdam’s Healthy and Promising Start (GKS) program, which organizes local network meetings in the three boroughs of North, New West, and South East with the goals of strengthening collaborations, building new knowledge and inspiration for participants and encouraging action that will improve the practical work of professionals.
Using art to better communicate
The initiative to create a play to show and discuss the outcomes of the research came during the analysis of the project. “We saw that the health care professionals already had training in the topic of ‘cultural sensitivity’, so we thought that having them listen to the women would lead them to an understanding beyond the scientific literature”, explains the director of Road of Hope Patricia Barendregt, who was also collaborating during the research process. From the interviews made for the research, Road of Hope developed two forms of art manifestation: the play, with volunteers with origins corresponding to the origins of the groups interviewed, who would reproduce the speeches captured during the interviews, in the form of a script. Also as a result of this tremendous collaborative contribution, the stories played on “Cultureluurs” became an e-book art illustrated, which is available for free download.