Strengthening community-based doula and clinician partnerships through implementation and dissemination science approaches: a mixed-methods pilot study

BACKGROUND: Collaboration between community-based doulas and clinical care teams improves birth outcomes, yet partnerships are hindered by operational, communication, and role clarity challenges. Evidence is lacking on scalable, low-burden strategies to strengthen these relationships outside of formal intervention settings. METHODS: Rapid deductive content analysis of focus groups and interviews with 12 perinatal clinicians and 11 community-based doulas was conducted. Findings informed a five-minute video vignette illustrating the role of community-based doulas and their hopes for partnerships with clinical care teams. The vignette was screened in two settings: with community-based participants (n = 72), and with clinical healthcare professionals (n = 21). RESULTS: In the first screening, 94% of participants indicated that the vignette honored doula voices either "completely" or "mostly" (n = 72). Participants reported that the vignette centered authentic voices and presented clear, relatable narratives. In the second screening (n = 21), the 13-item Interprofessional Collaboration Scale (ICS) assessed perceived interprofessional collaboration across three subscales (Communication, Accommodation, and Isolation). Mean total ICS scores increased from 2.63 to 2.90 (t(20) = 3.27, p = .004, Cohen's dz = 0.71). Communication and Accommodation subscales also improved significantly (Communication: 2.70 to 3.09, p < .001, dz = 0.87; Accommodation: 2.75 to 3.08, p = .010, dz = 0.62). CONCLUSIONS: Combining rapid qualitative analysis with vignette-based dissemination is a feasible approach to improve partnerships outside of intervention settings. The vignette's strongest influence was on perceptions and willingness to collaborate. This approach represents a scalable, low-burden strategy that may be adapted across interprofessional collaborations.