Should Health Professionals Screen All Women for Domestic Violence?

Background to the debate: The US and Canadian task forces on preventive health recently declared that there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against routine universal screening of women for domestic violence. Yet some experts argue that routine enquiry is justified

Effectively engaging stakeholders and the public in developing violence prevention messages

Background: Preventing family violence requires that stakeholders and the broader public be involved in developing evidence-based violence prevention strategies. However, gaps exist in between what we know (knowledge), what we do (action), and the structures supporting practice (policy). Discussion: We discuss the broad challenge of mobilizing knowledge-for-action in family violence, with a primary focus on the issue of how stakeholders and the public can be effectively engaged when developing and communicating evidence-based violence prevention messages. We suggest that a comprehensive approach to stakeholder and public engagement in developing violence prevention messages includes: 1) clear and consistent messaging; 2) identifying and using, as appropriate, lessons from campaigns that show evidence of reducing specific types of violence; and 3) evidence-informed approaches for communicating to specific groups. Components of a comprehensive approach must take into account the available research evidence, implementation feasibility, and the context-specific nature of family violence. Summary: While strategies exist for engaging stakeholders and the public in messaging about family violence prevention, knowledge mobilization must be informed by evidence, dialogue with stakeholders, and proactive media strategies. This paper will be of interest to public health practitioners or others involved in planning and implementing violence prevention programs because it highlights what is known about the issue, potential solutions, and implementation considerations

Identifying and removing duplicate records from systematic review searches

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare effectiveness of different options for deduplicating records retrieved from systematic review searches. Methods: Using the records from a published systematic review, five de-duplication options were compared. The time taken to de-duplicate in each option and the number of false positives (were deleted but should not have been) and false negatives (should have been deleted but were not) were recorded. Results: The time for each option varied. The number of positive and false duplicates returned from each option also varied greatly. Conclusion: The authors recommend different de-duplication options based on the skill level of the searcher and the purpose of de-duplication efforts

The Impact of Domestic Violence in the Workplace: Results from a Pan-Canadian Survey

When workers experience domestic violence (DV) at home, impacts are felt in the workplace; however, little research is available on this topic. Methods: We conducted an online survey regarding the impacts of DV at work. Results: A total of 8429 people completed the survey. More than a third of respondents reported experiencing DV; among them, more than a third reported that DV affected their ability to get to work, and more than half reported that it continued at or near work. Most reported that DV negatively affected their performance. Almost all respondents, regardless of DV experience, believed that it impacts victims\u27 work lives. Conclusions: This research identifies the scope and impact of DV on workers and workplaces. The data should assist governments, unions, and employers to enact and evaluate proactive practices to address the impact of DV in the workplace

Our roles are not at ease: The work of engaging a youth advisory council in a mental health services delivery organization

Objectives: There is growing policy impetus for including youth voices in health services research and health system reform. This article examines the perspectives of professionals in a mental healthcare organization charged with engaging young people as advisors in service transformation. Methods: An institutional ethnography of a youth mental health services organization in Ontario, Canada, was conducted. Fieldwork consisted of twelve months of observation of meetings, interviews with youth advisors and adult service providers, with subsequent text analysis of engagement training and policy materials. The present article reports data from six adult professionals and related field observations. Results: Service providers’ efforts to engage youth were observed in three areas: a) supporting youth\u27s development as advisors, b) retaining and deepening youth participation while waiting for organizational change and c) embedding relationships between youth and adults at various levels within the system of care. This work denotes existing tensions between the values and ideals of youth engagement and the everyday demands of services delivery. Conclusion: In this setting, a fundamental dimension of this work consisted of negotiating tensions between the policy enthusiasm for engagement and its realization in a health services context. In describing these contextual challenges, we outline implications for consideration by other youth mental health services. Engagement efforts that are authentic and sustained require resources and flexibility, and leadership commitment to instil service users’ perspectives throughout multiple levels within the organization

Navigating multiple pandemics: A critical analysis of the impact of COVID-19 policy responses on gender-based violence services

COVID-19 illustrated what governments can do to mobilise against a global threat. Despite the strong governmental response to COVID-19 in Canada, another ‘pandemic’, gender-based violence (GBV), has been causing grave harm with generally insufficient policy responses. Using interpretive description methodology, 26 interviews were conducted with shelter staff and 5 focus groups with 24 executive directors (EDs) from GBV service organizations in Ontario, Canada. Five main themes were identified and explored, namely that: (1) there are in fact four pandemics at play; (2) the interplay of pandemics amplified existing systemic weaknesses; (3) the key role of informal partnerships and community support, (4) temporary changes in patterns of funding allocation; and (5) exhaustion as a consequence of addressing multiple and concurrent pandemics. Implications and recommendations for researchers, policy makers, and the GBV sector are discussed

Violence Against Women Is and Was its Own Pandemic_COVID-19 Made Things Worse

Very early in the COVID-19 pandemic, I wrote two pieces (here and here) outlining that, as with other global crises, a new pandemic would mean frightening increases in the frequency and severity of violence at home: women would be confined, due to lockdowns, with their abusers, with little or no opportunity to seek help, and the compounding stressors of the pandemic (employment uncertainty, fear of becoming ill, kids at home all the time, etc.) would create a perfect storm for escalating violence. Sadly, this has proven largely true, with, for example, rates of femicide (the intentional killing of women because they’re women) increasing in Canada in line with the pandemic, along with the need for services

Risk indicators to identify intimate partner violence in the emergency department

Background: Intimate partner violence against women is prevalent and is associated with poor health outcomes. Understanding indicators of exposure to intimate partner violence can assist health care professionals to identify and respond to abused women. This study was undertaken to determine the strength of association between selected evidence-based risk indicators and exposure to intimate partner violence. Methods: In this cross-sectional study of 768 English-speaking women aged 18–64 years who presented to 2 emergency departments in Ontario, Canada, participants answered questions about risk indicators and completed the Composite Abuse Scale to determine their exposure to intimate partner violence in the past year. Results: Intimate partner violence was significantly associated with being separated, in a common-law relationship or single (odds ratio [OR]

Searching for health information in rural Canada. Where do residents look for health information and what do they do when they find it?

Abstract Introduction. People living in rural area

What About the Men? A Critical Review of Men’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a health problem affecting people of all genders and other social locations. While IPV victimization of cis-gendered women has been widely researched, how men conceptualized or experience IPV victimization, and the variations in their experiences of IPV, has not been thoroughly examined. In this critical review of men’s experiences of IPV, an extensive search of peer reviewed literature was conducted using multiple database (Cochrane database, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycgINFO, and Google Scholar) as well as the gray literature. We critically reviewed examining the conceptual foundations of IPV victimization among men. The influence or gender roles and societal expectation on men’s experiences and perceptions of IPV victimization and their help-seeking behavior are explored. Current knowledge about types, tactics, and patterns of IPV against men and the health and social consequences of IPV are addresses. Additionally, the conceptual and empirical limitations of current research are discussed, including the tendency to compare only the prevalence rates of discrete incidents of abuse among women versus men; the use of IPV measures not designed to capture men’s conceptualizations of IPV; and the lack of attention given to sex and gender identity of both the victim and perpetrator. Future research priorities that address these limitations and seek to strengthen and deepen knowledge about IPV among men are identified