A systematic review of intimate partner violence educational interventions delivered to allied health care practitioners

Abstract

Future studies should be conducted using rigorous methodology and validated instruments to measure evidence-based outcomes and should target a wider range of AHCPs. Recommendations are provided on education content and delivery, study methodology and outcome measurement based on insights gained from selected studies.

The case for intimate partner violence education: early, essential and evidence-based

“…While emphasising the limited evidence about the impact of IPV training on key educational outcomes (knowledge, attitudes, skills and behaviours [KASB]), Sawyer et al . conclude that there is a positive effect of selected interventions on KASB in allied HPs . This finding is similar to that of MacGregor and colleagues, who examined the evidence for continuing professional education and knowledge translation strategies in IPV and child maltreatment.…”

“…The review by Sawyer and colleagues summarising the evidence about intimate partner violence (IPV) training of non‐physician allied health practitioners (HPs) fills an important gap in the literature. Previous systematic reviews have focused predominantly on training for physicians and physician trainees .…”

“…To advance systemwide education for physicians and allied HPs, there must be in‐depth understanding of what IPV content, including skills, learners receive throughout their training. It is of note that only two of the 18 studies included in the review by Sawyer et al . evaluated skills outcomes, despite results from the 2006 review by Feder and colleagues indicating that what patients want from health care providers is competency in responding appropriately to IPV.…”

“…We suggest that in addition to the three requirements of ‘early, essential and evidence‐based’, there needs to be systemwide collaboration and uptake of IPV education, as well as meaningful evaluation rather than simply the determination of whether IPV content is included in curricula. The reviews by Sawyer et al . and others provide a starting point for the adoption of evidence‐based IPV education, but this complex public health problem requires more than individualistic approaches to competency acquisition.…”

Intimate partner violence as a subject of study during the training of nurses and midwives in Catalonia (Spain): A qualitative study

“…According to other studies (Government Office for IPV, 2015b), a biologistic approach to healthcare centred on the physical in detriment to the psychosocial is an obstacle to understanding this health problem. Lecturers do not limit their teaching only to strictly health related functions, rather they also include attitude training, just as in Sawyer et al (2016). It is the lecturers who introduce sensitisation towards gender equality and the eradication of IPV into nurse and midwife training, an observation which may also be found in other works (Adams et al, 2009).…”