Enhancing cultural mediators' health knowledge through training with creative drama technique

Abstract

Cultural mediators (CMs) play a crucial role in facilitating migrants’ access to healthcare services in Turkey. Many CMs are migrants themselves, providing essential support in navigating complex healthcare systems. A three-day training program was designed in May 2019 to enhance their health-related knowledge, with a particular focus on maternal and child health. One of the primary challenges was conveying complex health concepts to individuals from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

To address this, creative drama was employed as a pedagogical technique, fostering curiosity through improvisational scenarios involving both trainers and trainees. A key aspect of this approach was integrating participants’ lived experiences into the learning process, thereby enhancing engagement and retention. The training scenario depicted a migrant woman fleeing conflict, seeking refuge in Turkey, and navigating various healthcare facilities while experiencing multiple health challenges.

To evaluate the program’s effectiveness, pre- and post-training surveys?comprising 11 open-ended questions were administered. The results indicated a significant improvement in knowledge, with correct responses increasing by 60%. Initially, only four of the 17 participants correctly identified the legal timeframe for abortion, increasing to ten in the post-test. Similarly, none of the participants?initially answered correctly regarding child vaccination policies in Turkey, whereas ten provided the correct response afterward.

Following the training, participants conducted health-related presentations for both their organizations’ staff and the migrant communities they serve. As a result, 10 CMs successfully delivered sessions, reaching 70 migrants and 107 civil society workers. These findings highlight the essential role of CMs in improving healthcare access for migrant populations. Given the increasing migration trends, strengthening CMs’ health knowledge is vital for improving healthcare outcomes. Creative drama emerges as an effective, engaging and innovative pedagogical technique for enhancing learning in healthcare training programs.