Knowledge and quality of life in female torture survivors

Immigrant women represent disadvantaged and vulnerable members of the torture survivor population. They tend to be isolated and have negative coping strategies resulting in poor health and well-being. The purpose of this pilot study is to develop and evaluate an educational and interactive women's health-based programme using health promotion and empowerment strategies, with the intent of using the knowledge gained to contribute to an ongoing women's health programme.

A one-group pre-test to post-test design was used with weekly intervention sessions over six weeks, with final evaluation on week seven. Topics covered included nutrition, exercise, healthy cooking, medications, personal and dental hygiene, women's health, and birth control. Achievement tests for health-related knowledge were developed by the principal investigator to match the content of each session. Tests were given before and after the session on weeks one through six, and tests on all content modules were repeated one week after the conclusion of the programme. The short version of the World Health Organization quality of life scale (WHOQOL-BREF) was administered at the start of the first session and at the conclusion of the programme.

Participants' WHOQOL-BREF scores improved significantly from the beginning to the end of the programme. Improvements in achievement scores from pre to post test for each session and from pre-test to the follow-up test at the end of the programme were also statistically significant. Finally, the overall change from pre to post to follow-up achievement test scores was statistically significant. Observable changes in the women were also seen over the duration of the programme, adding confidence to the results and effectiveness of the intervention.

Little is currently known about health-based interventions for the vulnerable population of female torture survivors. Public health nurses and other professionals who work with this population have a unique opportunity to influence behavior change and promote empowerment in this population. The techniques employed in this study can be used by public health nurses as a basis for designing women's health-based programmes at other torture treatment centres throughout the world.