Changes in the levels of knowledge and attitudes of dental hospital staff about domestic violence following attendance at an awareness raising seminar

Abstract

RESEARCH• Assesses knowledge and attitudes of a dental team about domestic violence before and after a brief training intervention.• Post-training there was improved recognition about the dental team's role in the healthcare response to domestic violence.• Brief training can improve dental staff comfort asking patients about abuse, though whether false confi dence in dealing with abused patients results needs to be established.• We suggest that brief training be complemented with in depth practical training and the development of appropriate processes for dealing with abuse victims. I N B R I E FChanges in the levels of knowledge and attitudes of dental hospital staff about domestic violence following attendance at an awareness raising seminar A. L. Warburton, 1 B. Hanif, 2 C. Rowsell 3 and P. Coulthard 4Objectives To assess changes in dental team knowledge and awareness about domestic violence following attendance at a brief training intervention. Materials and methods Seventy-fi ve dental hospital staff at the University of Manchester Dental Hospital attended a two-hour session delivered by Manchester's City Wide NHS Domestic Violence Project manager. Participants completed identical questionnaires immediately before and after the session. Paired t-tests were conducted to determine changes in responses to individual questions before and after training. Independent sample t-tests were also conducted to compare mean responses by sex. Results Statistically signifi cant improvements were seen in 50% of attitude questions and 100% of knowledge questions. After training, there was improved recognition that interpersonal violence was a health issue and that the dental profession should be more involved in identifi cation of abuse. There was also improved comfort asking about abuse and respondents were less afraid of offending the patient and less likely to blame the victims for being abused. Statistically signifi cant sex differences at baseline were also seen for several items: females obtaining more correct answers at baseline than males. Conclusions Brief domestic violence training interventions can be effective in improving knowledge and attitudes amongst a dental team but could lead to false confi dence in staff and should be followed by in-depth practical training and the development of appropriate processes for dealing with abuse victims.

Safeguarding children in dentistry: 1. Child protection training, experience and practice of dental professionals with an interest in paediatric dentistry

“…Similar cautions have been offered in relation to domestic violence training in a study which also warned of generating possible false confidence in staff. 17 However we found that a high proportion (78%) acknowledged their need for further training, even if they had received previous postqualification child protection training.…”

Strategies to promote uptake and use of intimate partner violence and child maltreatment knowledge: an integrative review

“…It appears that a variety of interventions, ranging in complexity, time commitment, etc., can be successful. Only one article [98] warned that brief training – providing practitioners with a little knowledge regarding how to respond to IPV victims – could actually cause false confidence, and ultimately be potentially harmful to victims. However, this possibility was not empirically examined in any article.…”

“…These factors can make recipients less receptive to engaging with the KT intervention itself and/or impede motivation or ability to initiate subsequent behaviour change. Several interventions were particularly framed as addressing such barriers, for example interventions to improve provider comfort, including self-efficacy and acceptability, with IPV or CM knowledge e.g., [98, 106, 107]. Others suggested the inclusion of specific components to address the challenges of IPV/CM subject matter such as a hotline [103] or online chat feature [107] to provide support for those participating in online training.…”

Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence: a cross sectional survey of surgical residents and medical students

“…Warburton et al 38 reported that a brief IPV educational program improved dental hospital staff’s attitudes and knowledge about IPV. As well, an educational program for internal medicine residents was both well received and effective at improving detection of IPV victims.…”