Ripple Effects Mapping: Visualizing impacts from a grassroots effort to support safe infant feeding after Hurricane Helene- Edu2C

Speaker(s):
Stephanie L. Martin
Kathy Parry
Catherine S. Sullivan

The Support & Advocacy for Infant Feeding in Emergencies (SAFE) Team is a grassroots, volunteer-led initiative founded in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to support safe infant and young child feeding in emergencies (IYCF-E) and strengthen community preparedness. They coordinated hundreds of volunteers and trained dozens of healthcare providers and emergency responders.

The researchers sought to visually document the impact of the SAFE Team’s IYCF-E efforts after Hurricane Helene.

Ripple Effects Mapping (REM) workshops were held to visually and collaboratively document the SAFE Team’s impact. Through small and large group discussions, participants reflected on SAFE Team’s activities. Participants included SAFE Team leaders and volunteers, families who received infant feeding support, healthcare providers, aid-distribution site staff, and community members. Participants shared impacts and ripples represented as visual maps during each workshop. Workshops lasted about 2 hours and were video recorded. Key themes were identified using inductive coding.

Researchers hosted one in-person (n=25) and one virtual REM workshop (n=17). Key themes included the SAFE Team’s impact on families (e.g. counseling, human milk distribution), providing SAFE infant feeding kits to distribution sites, raising awareness about IYCF-E among relief organizations, and training volunteers who are now advocating for IYCF-E preparedness in their communities. Participants shared facilitators to the SAFE Team’s successful response, identified challenges (e.g. uncontrolled commercial milk formula donations, lack of policies), and discussed recommendations for the future.

The SAFE Team’s community-led response generated lasting impacts for families, organizations, and communities, underscoring the critical need to integrate IYCF into emergency preparedness and response.