While research has focused on the presence of child disengagement during caregiver-child interaction, there is a gap in the literature analyzing the duration of time that a child is disengaged from an interaction and what implications this may have on the caregiver-child relationship. In addition, there is a gap in the literature that has examined the relationship between the duration of child disengagement and parenting behavior. One such behavior that has proven to be influential on a child’s developmental outcomes is caregiver sensitivity. A sensitive caregiver recognizes and responds appropriately to a child’s cues as well as provides a safe and stimulating environment in which the child can learn. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between caregiver sensitivity and the duration of time that a child exhibits potent disengagement cues during a caregiver-child interaction. Recorded caregiver-child interactions from a previous study were coded for the duration of time during the episode that the child displayed a potent disengagement cue. The definitions of the potent disengagement cues were taken from the NCAST Programs Caregiver/Parent-Child Interaction Teaching Manual. Caregivers’ sensitivity was assessed and scored using the NCAST Teaching Scales. Results demonstrated that as caregiver sensitivity increased, length of child disengagement decreased. The discovery of this relationship between caregiver sensitivity and duration of child disengagement serves as a gateway to new areas of research that could promote the quality of caregiver-child interactions and therefore have positive effects on the child’s developmental outcomes.

Obstetric Fistula is a childbearing injury that occurs as a result of neglected labor. Obstetric Fistulas occur in 5% of live births and accounts for 8% of all maternal deaths. It is one of the four major causes of maternal mortality and morbidity. Worldwide about 50,000 to 100,000 women are affected by obstetric fistula each year (World Health Organization, 2011). The purpose of this project was to: 1) Create greater awareness of obstetrical fistula in the community, 2) Assess if giving circles and my presentation accomplished this goal. Giving circles is a strategy used to inform and educate small groups of people about obstetric fistula. I conducted a series of giving circles, starting with family, then to a group of friends, followed by students in the UW School of Nursing Programs, and hope to set up another for UW faculty. I used PowerPoint slides and showed a clip of the 2009 Emmy award winning documentary “A Walk to Beautiful”. I asked the attendees to fill out a written evaluation at the end of each presentation as a means to evaluate the presentation itself and the impact it had on the attendees. The evaluation consisted of eight direct questions about the information and delivery of the presentation and allowed the attendees to comment and/or grade content. In total I had a response rate of about 50%. I identified major themes across all responses and sub-themes in each of the individual questions. One major theme identified was the need to spend more time explaining the anatomy of an Obstetric Fistula and the research around the social implications of having the fistula. As a result I concluded that there is a general interest in the community about Obstetric Fistula and giving circles are an effective method of raising awareness.