Trial reportBMC women's health2019
Women's circles as a culturally safe psychosocial intervention in Guatemalan indigenous communities: a community-led pilot randomised trial.
Trial report in BMC women's health, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cocreation and codesign in maternal health: processes, outcomes and implementation challenges.BMJ quality & safety · 2026Pooled it
- Primary-level and community worker interventions for the prevention of mental disorders and the promotion of well-being in low- and middle-income countries.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Pooled it
- Indigenous approaches to perinatal mental health: a systematic review with critical interpretive synthesis.Archives of women's mental health · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of consumers and health providers working in partnership on health services planning, delivery and evaluation.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Digital mental health intervention for well-being among low-distress workers in small enterprises on a secondary analysis of an RCT.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Delivering the Thinking Healthy Programme as a universal group intervention integrated into routine antenatal care: a randomized-controlled pilot study.BMC psychiatry · 2023Trial
- Community perspectives on access to healthcare for the Rama indigenous people, Nicaragua: the utility of Cultural Safety outside high-income countries.International journal for equity in health · 2026Article
- Interventions addressing mental health in conflict-affected settings: A literature review.Conflict and health · 2026Article
- [Intimate partner violence and help-seeking in Chiapas, Mexico: Implications for rural community health services].Salud colectiva · 2025Article
- Analyzing determinants of social practices in infectious diseases among Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities: A participatory diagnosis of malaria, tuberculosis, and leishmaniasis in Colombia.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- To gather is to heal: Women's mental health circles in rural Chiapas, Mexico.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- Ethnic Minority Participation in Clinical Trials from Latin America and the Caribbean: A Scoping Review.Journal of immigrant and minority health · 2024Article
- Article
- The significance of feeling safe for resilience of adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa.Frontiers in psychology · 2023Article
- Co-design for indigenous and other children and young people from priority social groups: A systematic review.SSM - population health · 2022Review
- Maternal health and Indigenous traditional midwives in southern Mexico: contextualisation of a scoping review.BMJ open · 2021Article
- Gender, mental health and resilience in armed conflict: listening to life stories of internally displaced women in Colombia.BMJ global health · 2021Article
- Effect of a lay counselor-delivered integrated maternal mental health and early childhood development group-based intervention in Northern Ghana: a cluster-randomized controlled trial.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2021Article
- Indigenous-led health care partnerships in Canada.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2020Article
- Ongoing challenges in access to diabetes care among the indigenous population: perspectives of individuals living in rural Guatemala.International journal for equity in health · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIndigenous Maya women in Guatemala show some of the worst maternal health indicators worldwide. Our objective was to test acceptability, feasibility and impact of a co-designed group psychosocial intervention (Women's Circles) in a population with significant need but no access to mental health services.
methodsA parallel group pilot randomised study was undertaken in five rural Mam and three periurban K'iche' communities. Participants included 84 women (12 per community, in seven of the communities) randomly allocated to intervention and 71 to control groups; all were pregnant and/or within 2 years postpartum. The intervention consisted of 10 sessions co-designed with and facilitated by 16 circle leaders. Main outcome measures were: maternal psychosocial distress (HSCL-25), wellbeing (MHC-SF), self-efficacy and engagement in early infant stimulation activities. In-depth interviews also assessed acceptability and feasibility.
resultsThe intervention proved feasible and well accepted by circle leaders and participating women. 1-month post-intervention, wellbeing scores (p-value 0.008) and self-care self-efficacy (0.049) scores were higher among intervention compared to control women. Those women who attended more sessions had higher wellbeing (0.007), self-care and infant-care self-efficacy (0.014 and 0.043, respectively), and early infant stimulation (0.019) scores.
conclusionsThe pilot demonstrated acceptability, feasibility and potential efficacy to justify a future definitive randomised controlled trial. Co-designed women's groups provide a safe space where indigenous women can collectively improve their functioning and wellbeing.
trial registrationISRCTN13964819 . Registered 26 June 2018, retrospectively registered.
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