234 Expanding access to perinatal trauma care: Evaluating the perinatal narrative exposure therapy (PNET) training for interdisciplinary providers

Abstract

Objectives/Goals: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common during pregnancy and postpartum, leading to adverse birth outcomes. Despite effective interventions like narrative exposure therapy, PTSD often goes untreated due limited training opportunities and lack of community support. Expanding training for PTSD is crucial to improving access to care. Methods/Study Population: Six 3-day PNET trainings were delivered to 57 participants over a 23-month period. Workshop attendees represented a variety of professions (19% Social Workers, 19% Mental Health Graduate Trainees, 18% Psychologists, 18% Counselors, 12% Doulas, 11% Physicians, and 5% Home Visitor/Parent Educators) with varying levels of specialty experience from diverse locations (2 countries and 13 states). Key workshop outcomes included participant one-week post-workshop satisfaction, perceptions of acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of the intervention, and pre- to one-week post-workshop perceptions of connectedness to trauma treatment and perinatal healthcare communities. Data will be explored at 6 months post-workshop to evaluate longer-term effects on connectedness. Results/Anticipated Results: The majority of workshop attendees (84%, M =  4.76, range 1–5) reported being “extremely satisfied” with the training and 98% indicated they would “recommend it to others.” Most attendees found NET to be acceptable (M  =  4.64, range  =  1–5), appropriate (M  =  4.37, range  =  1–5), and feasible (M  =  4.49, range  =  1–5) to use within their practice. Paired t-tests revealed a significant increase in a sense of connectedness to both the trauma treatment and perinatal healthcare communities from pre- to post-workshop. Discussion/Significance of Impact: Findings indicate that the PNET workshop is feasible and effective in training interdisciplinary providers on perinatal PTSD evidence-based interventions. By training a range of professionals and fostering a sense of connectedness, the PNET workshop has the potential to make effective trauma treatments accessible to underserved populations.