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Barriers and Facilitators to the Online Delivery of a School-Based Intervention to Reduce Racial Trauma

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Abstract

Students of color face disproportionate rates of adverse childhood experiences, including racial discrimination in school settings. Effective interventions strategies are needed to address school-based racial trauma. Link for Equity was designed to be a culturally-responsive trauma-informed intervention that includes universal cultural humility training for teachers. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the in-person trauma-informed cultural humility training was adapted for online delivery. The purpose of this study was to assess barriers and facilitators that impacted online delivery of the training. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 25 high school teachers from three public school districts in the Midwestern United States who participated in the online training. Interview transcripts were coded by two team members, and thematic analysis was utilized. Barriers and facilitators to online delivery were identified across five domains: receptivity, logistics, engagement, comfort, and application. The implications of these barriers and facilitators are discussed and tailored recommendations for the virtual delivery of culturally-responsive trauma-informed interventions to reduce racial discrimination in schools are provided.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (R01MD013801).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA

    Marcia J. Ash, Kristin E. Knutzen, Ighedosa Ogbeide, Tiffaney L. Renfro & Briana Woods-Jaeger

  2. Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Marizen R. Ramirez

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  1. Marcia J. Ash
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  2. Kristin E. Knutzen
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  3. Ighedosa Ogbeide
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  4. Tiffaney L. Renfro
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  5. Marizen R. Ramirez
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  6. Briana Woods-Jaeger
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception, design, and material preparation. Data collection was performed by MJA, KEK, IO, and TLR. Analyses were performed by MJA, KEK, and IO. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MJA. All authors edited and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Marcia J. Ash.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Ethical Approval

This study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Institutional Review Board at Emory University (IRB00112487). This paper follows standards of reporting for qualitative methods based on SRQR.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Ash, M.J., Knutzen, K.E., Ogbeide, I. et al. Barriers and Facilitators to the Online Delivery of a School-Based Intervention to Reduce Racial Trauma. Adm Policy Ment Health 50, 750–762 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10488-023-01281-y

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