Training Sri Lankan public health midwives on intimate partner violence: a pre- and post-intervention study

Abstract

BackgroundIn many developing countries, intimate partner violence (IPV) training is not available for health providers. As a pioneer among developing countries, in 2009, the Sri Lankan Ministry of Health trained a group of community health providers known as public health midwives (PHMs) on IPV. We evaluated that training program’s efficacy in improving PHMs’ identification and management of IPV sufferers in Kandy, Sri Lanka.MethodsWe conducted this study from August 2009 to September 2010. We used a self-administered structured questionnaire to examine the following variables among 408 PHMs: self-reported IPV practices, IPV knowledge, perceived barriers, perceived responsibility, and self-confidence in identifying and assisting IPV sufferers. We used McNemar’s test to compare PHMs’ pre- and post-intervention IPV practices. Using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, we compared PHMs’ pre-and post-intervention IPV knowledge, as well as their perceived barriers, responsibility, and self-confidence scores.ResultsThe IPV training program improved PHMs’ IPV practices significantly. Six months after the intervention, 98.5% (n = 402) of the 408 PHMs identified at least one IPV sufferer in the previous three months, compared to 73.3% (n = 299) in the pre-intervention (p < 0.001). At post-intervention, 96.5% (n = 387) of the PHMs discussed IPV with identified sufferers and suggested solutions; only 67.3% (n = 201) did so at the pre-intervention (p < 0.001). In addition, after the intervention, there were significant increases (p < 0.001) in the median total scores of PHMs’ IPV knowledge (0.62 vs. 0.88), perceived responsibility (3.20 vs. 4.60), and self-confidence (1.81 vs. 2.75). PHMs’ perceived barriers decreased from 2.43 to 1.14 (p < 0.001).ConclusionsAn IPV training program for PHMs improved identification and assistance of IPV sufferers in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This training program has the potential to improve PHMs’ skills in preventing IPV and supporting sufferers in other regions of Sri Lanka. Other developing countries might learn lessons from Sri Lanka’s IPV training.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1674-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Nurse and midwifery education and intimate partner violence: a scoping review

“…, Jayatilleke et al . ). A study of Turkish‐based postregistration emergency department nurses identified a lack of previous IPV education for all participants in the trial (Yildiz et al .…”

The effectiveness of a gender equality course in changing undergraduate midwifery students' attitudes towards domestic violence and gender roles

“…They described an increasing sense of confidence in routinely screening their clients, and related strategies for doing this safely. Jayatilleke et al (2015) reported that a DV training programme for public health midwives improved identification of and assistance for DV victims in Sri Lanka. They also suggested that the training programme had the potential to improve midwives' skills in preventing DV.…”

“…In accordance with these results, DV education should examine gender roles and the effects of traditional gender roles on attitudes towards DV. A study by Jayatilleke et al (2015) emphasized that gender roles were an integral part of DV training programmes.…”

“…The first part, which related to gender roles, was structured based on the related literature (World Health Organization, 2006; Prime Ministry Directorate General on the Status of Women, 2008b;World Health Organization, 2009;Ecevit et al, 2011;Dökmen, 2016). The second part related to DV was structured based on the related literature also (Berman, Barlow, Koziol-McLain, 2005;Jayatilleke et al, 2015;Crombie, Hooker, Reisenhofer, 2016). The course was designed to improve the attitudes of undergraduate midwifery students towards domestic violence and gender roles.…”

“…However, there is some evidence regarding the effectiveness of midwives' training in DV. Jayatilleke et al (2015) conducted a training program for public health midwives. The training program significantly improved midwives' practices, perceived responsibility, and self-confidence in identifying and assisting DV sufferers.…”