Drs. Chang, Miller, Ragavan, and their team members interviewed advocates and survivors about their experiences, impacts, and needed resources. Survivors and advocates reported a variety of experiences with economic abuse during the perinatal period, including financial control, exploitation, and employment sabotage.
What happens to Veterans who become pregnant when using contraception?
In a study published by the Journal of Women's Health, CONVERGE's Drs. Chang, Callegari, Borrero, and Quinn found that these pregnancies are more likely to end in an abortion than live birth. Given widespread reproductive health restrictions across the US, ensuring Veterans' access to comprehensive health care, including abortion, is critical to supporting reproductive autonomy and whole health.
MyVoice:CF is acceptable, appropriate, and usable for those with cystic fibrosis (CF). Among a sample of 43 participants, preliminary effectiveness evaluation suggests that MyVoice:CF improves self-efficacy in and frequency of reproductive health communication.
While research on perpetration of IPV is growing, few studies have sought to explore perpetrators' perspectives on their abusive behaviors. Thus, Dr. Judy Chang and her team conducted semistructured, open-ended interviews with men convicted of an IPV crime where they broadly explored their perspectives on contributors to abuse. These findings highlight areas where intervention efforts need to be tailored to address the unmet needs of men who perpetrate.
Drs. Chang, Krans, and Miller conducted 15 semistructured interviews with pregnant and postpartum women who have experienced opioid use disorder (OUD) and intimate partner violence (IPV). Their team found that
➡️ Partners impacted their ability to seek OUD care
➡️ Seeking help for OUD and IPV was siloed and they wished for integrated services
➡️ They were more comfortable disclosing OUD than IPV
➡️ They perceived pregnancy as a barrier and facilitator to OUD care
Through interviews with postpartum people and health care providers (HCP), Drs. Chang, Miller, and Ragavan explored:
1) How IPV is currently discussed
2) What should be included in IPV interventions
3) How to support those who disclose IPV
4) Implementation barriers and facilitators
This resulted in:
➡️HCPs reported a variety of practices to support survivors
➡️Postpartum people reported not receiving resources or education related to IPV
➡️HCPs identified a need for screening and resource provision
Drs. Chang, Miller, and Ragavan explored how intimate partner violence (IPV) is currently discussed with postpartum people in the postpartum unit as well as future methods and strategies for intervention and support.
Read more about their findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37971822/
Findings by Dr. Judy Chang and her team highlight the justifications provided by medical students who do not support explicit informed consent for pelvic exams under anesthesia.
Read more about Dr. Chang's findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37845168/
Drs. Mendez, Jarlenski, Chang, and their team measured racial inequities in drug testing among pregnant people and found that clinicians were more likely to order urine drug testing for Black patients compared with their White counterparts.
Read more of their findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37769307/
Dr. Kazmerski , Olivia Stransky, Catherine Wright, Dr. Birru Talabi, Dr. Callegari, Dr. Chang, Dr. Miller, Ashley Deal, Raelynn O'Leary, and Dr. Borrero conducted a study on our femtech tool MyVoice:CF showing that the tool increases self-efficacy and reproductive health communication for those with cystic fibrosis.
Read more about their findings here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37833123/
