1. THRI Home
  2. Our Research
  3. Health, Culture and Society
  4. Making CHOICES

Making CHOICES Study

About the Study

Funded by an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Grant, Dr. Alexandra Hawkey is leading a five-year project focused on understanding culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) migrant and refugee women’s experiences of reproductive decision-making and fertility management.

Why This Work is Important

CALD migrant and refugee women in Australia encounter significant barriers to equitable fertility management. These barriers include fewer consultations with general practitioners about contraception, difficulty accessing culturally relevant information about contraception and pregnancy options, and challenges in obtaining affordable contraception. CALD women may also face difficulties in reproductive decision-making associated with familial and cultural gender-based inequalities. To address this health priority, this project will generate an evidence base on CALD women's experiences and healthcare needs in fertility management. This evidence will guide the development and evaluation of supportive health interventions, empowering women to make informed decisions about their reproductive health and fertility management.

Our Aims & Research Design

Our Aims

The Making CHOICES study aims to:

  • Investigate CALD women’s perceptions and experiences of fertility management, focusing on decision-making, contraception, and unplanned pregnancy management.
  • Address health literacy and service support needs through the co-design, development, and evaluation of an online health education resource.
  • Communicate findings via a co-designed interactive knowledge translation exhibition for community members and healthcare professionals and provide recommendations for health promotion and healthcare provision.
Research Design

Using qualitative, arts-based methods and co-design, this project aims to significantly advance understanding of the needs of migrant and refugee women through four phases of research.

PHASE 1: Community Engagement - Formulate advisory group with expertise in CALD women’s SRH; PHASE 2: Data Collection - Data collection of women’s perception & experiences of fertility management; PHASE 3: Resource Development & Evaluation - Co-design, development & evaluation of educational resource; PHASE 4: Knowledge Translation - Stakeholder workshop to develop recommendations & knowledge translation exhibition.

How We Work

Based at the Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, the study follows an integrated knowledge translation (iKT) framework. Each phase of the research is guided by our six community co-researchers and Advisory Group, with membership from Family Planning NSW, Community Migrant Resource Centre (CMRC), Multicultural Centre for Women’s Health (MCWH), NSW Refugee Health Service, STARTTS, and Western Sydney Local Health District.

Contact Us

For more information about the study, please contact:

Follow us on Facebook (opens in a new window)
Follow us on X (opens in a new window)