A scoping review of intimate partner violence educational programs for health care professionals

ABSTRACT

Multiple intimate partner violence (IPV) educational programs have been developed for health care professionals (HCPs); however, program content and effectiveness vary substantially. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify and synthesize the literature evaluating IPV education programs for HCPs to identify key areas for potential evidence-based recommendations and focus future research priorities. We conducted a systematic literature search using broad eligibility criteria to identify studies published between January 2000 and July 2015 that evaluated the effectiveness of IPV education programs in health care settings. All potentially eligible references were screened independently by two reviewers. Data extraction was completed independently by two reviewers for all eligible studies. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize all data. We identified 65 eligible studies, 55% of which reported positive program effectiveness. Effective programs often reported the use of online training components, delivery by an IPV educator/expert or physician/surgeon, the inclusion of a treatment protocol and resources for patients and HCPs, and included more than five training sessions lasting no more than one hours each. Our results demonstrate that IPV educational programs are heterogeneous and that a wide variety of methodologies have been used to evaluate their effectiveness.

KEYWORDS:

• Intimate partner violence
• domestic violence
• partner abuse
• spouse abuse
• education
• scoping review

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the following individuals for their contributions to this scoping review:

Knowledge Users: Jason Busse, Ari Collerman, Vanina Dal Bello-Haas, Samir Faidi, David Florkowski, Clare Freeman, Nisha Gupta, Norma MacIntyre, Brad Petrisor, Angela Reitsma, Emil Schemitsch, Doug Thomson, Diana Tikasz, Milena Vicente, Andrew Worster

Administrative Support: Sofia Bzovsky, Alisha Garibaldi, Kim Madden, Paula McKay, Kerry Tai

Literature Search Support: Neera Bhatnagar

Statistical Support: Lehana Thabane

Funding

This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (KRS – 140988). The funding body had no role in the design of the study or collection, analysis, or interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (KRS – 140988). The funding body had no role in the design of the study or collection, analysis, or interpretation of data or in writing the manuscript.