Development of a health promotion action with mothers aiming to support a healthy start in life for children using Participatory Action Research

Health inequalities arise already during the first thousand days of a child’s life. Participatory action research (PAR) is a promising approach, addressing adverse contexts that impact health inequalities. This article describes the experience of mothers involved in a PAR process to develop a health promotion action that supports both children’s and mothers’ health. It also describes the experiences of mothers who attended the developed action and trainers who facilitated it. The PAR process resulted in the development of a sustained action called Mama’s World Exercise Club aimed at promoting the health of mothers and their children. Results showed that the PAR process empowered the mothers and gave them a sense of pride at playing a useful role in their community. The developed action was highly valued by other mothers in the neighbourhood and widely implemented. These positive results can be ascribed to the strong collaboration between the researchers and the mothers, and the willingness of local stakeholders to support the action. Future studies should investigate if the results of this study sustain over a longer period of time and improve health outcomes of children and mothers in the long run.