Through a collaborative community-based research project, students and faculty from the (COPH) are working to better understand and support the experiences of pregnant and parenting adolescents in the Tampa Bay region.
The project, "Mapping Resilience: Stories of Young Motherhood," was developed in partnership with the Healthy Start Coalition of Hillsborough County and uses journey mapping and photovoice methods to explore the lived experiences of young mothers.
Guided by , an alumna and professor in the , the initiative seeks to move beyond traditional public health narratives and center the voices of participants themselves.
For Mahir Rahman, who recently completed a master's degree in applied anthropology at USF and will begin a concurrent PhD in applied anthropology and master of public health program with a this fall, the project was inspired by a desire to better understand how community resources can meet the needs of young families.
"In May 2025, we briefly discussed starting a journey mapping project to understand how we could better tailor our community resources to fit young mother's needs," Rahman said. "Thus, this project was born."
Rahman began working with COPH alumna Danielle Lewald, adolescent health program manager for the Healthy Start Coalition of Hillsborough County, shortly after beginning graduate studies in 2024. Drawing on a longstanding interest in reproductive and sexual health, Rahman helped design a project that would allow participants to tell their own stories through creative and participatory methods.
"Instead of approaching adolescent pregnancy and parenting as a 'health problem,' we pursued it as a 'matter of health,' which broadens our perspectives related to future strategies of support," Rahman said. "It was no longer statistics, social determinants or postulations about family-life that directly impacted our understanding of adolescent pregnancy and parenting, but rather the intricate narratives that they shared with us."
Daniellw Lewald and Mahir Rhamna speaking with Linda Hurtado of FOX 13 Tampa Bay about their project, "Mapping Resilience: Stories of Young Motherhood."
The project revealed that young mothers often navigate multiple life transitions simultaneously.
"Our team found that young mothers exist in a layered motherhood, in which young moms are simultaneously navigating pregnancy, parenting, adolescence, identity development, education, health and relationships," Rahman said.
Rahman credits Vamos with helping shape the project's direction and impact.
"Dr. Vamos is incredibly insightful and an exemplar of compassionate mentorship," Rahman said. "Her role directly impacted this project and is still essential to the outcomes of this meaningful work."
The project also provided hands-on learning opportunities for students, including Ayaka Takayama, an .
Takayama joined the project to gain research experience and learn more about grant processes, stakeholder engagement and qualitative data analysis.
"I found that I really liked working with people in my community and found it really empowering to hear young mothers' perspectives about their experiences in motherhood," Takayama said.
Through transcribing interviews and analyzing participant narratives, Takayama gained new insights into the challenges young mothers face and the importance of support systems after childbirth.
"Before being a part of this project, I thought that the emphasis of resource distribution should be when the moms are still pregnant, but after being a part of transcribing the interviews, I found that mothers really want and need resources after they give birth," she said. "Their resilience to be amazing moms to their babies while also having to financially meet ends is supported through their support systems."
Takayama said the experience also strengthened her communication skills by helping her recognize emotions and experiences expressed through nonverbal cues during interviews.
Both students emphasized the importance of centering community voices in public health research.
"Centering community voices in public health research is critical because it ensures that programs and interventions reflect the lived realities and cultural contexts of the people they are meant to serve," Takayama said.
The partnership with the Healthy Start Coalition of Hillsborough County continues to inform future initiatives focused on improving support for young parents. According to Rahman, the team is exploring efforts related to job support, clinical interactions, educational experiences, support models and artificial intelligence tools.
For Rahman, the project demonstrates the value of combining public health and anthropology to address complex community challenges.
"This project continues to show me that working with community partners, in addition to adopting tools that critically engage and incorporate our participants, is essential to public health work," Rahman said.