Listening sessions with Latinas: documenting life contexts and creating connections.
OBJECTIVE
To use listening sessions with groups of Latinas to develop a contextual understanding of the lives of immigrant women to inform program development and ultimately better serve the community's needs for domestic violence services.


METHODS
This study was exploratory and descriptive, mixing qualitative listening sessions with quantitative methods. Seven listening group sessions were facilitated with 63 women participating.


METHODS
Data included information from a short demographic questionnaire, texts of narrative from the sessions, and tallies of thematic comments made during the listening sessions.


RESULTS
Themes derived from aggregated data from the listening sessions included women's Unmet Needs, Responsibilities, Goals, Achievements, Help-seeking, and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). Findings indicated that Latinas' comments were often family-focused and they have many unmet needs. Familiarity with community resources to meet needs was not consistent across groups, for example, women who had not utilized domestic violence services were unlikely to know where to obtain help for IPV problems.


CONCLUSIONS
The ease with which women shared knowledge of resources and offered emotional support to each other during listening sessions supports their use by bilingual public health nurses in communities for needs assessment, education, and networking among Latinas.
Belknap
Ruth Ann
RA
Marquette University College of Nursing, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53201-1881, USA. ruth.belknap@mu.edu
Vandevusse
Leona
L
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D018585:Battered Women / Q000523:psychology*; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000208:ethnology*; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D016730:Program Development; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012944:Social Support; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019037:Urban Health Services; D014932:Women's Health Services