The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #59273

Marianne Sullivan, MPH¹, Kirsten Senturia, PhD², Sharyne Shiu-Thornton, PhD³, Sandra Ciske, MN, RN⁴, Rujuta R. Gaonkar, MPH⁴, and James W Krieger, MD, MPH⁵. (1) Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, 722 W. 168th St., Center for Applied Public Health, New York, NY 10032, 212-305-4104, ms2489@columbia.edu, (2) Epidemiology, Planning and Evaluation Unit, Public Health: Seattle & King County, 999 3rd Ave., Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98104, (3) Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Box 357660, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, (4) Epidemiology, Planning and Evaluation Unit, Public Health - Seattle & King County, 999 Third Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98104, (5) Schools of Public Health and Medicine, Public Health-Seattle & King County and University of Washington, 999 Third Ave Suite 1200, Seattle, WA 98104

This paper will describe the process of developing an intervention to address domestic violence (DV) in four refugee/immigrant communities using a participatory approach. A participatory assessment, the first step in developing the intervention, served at least three purposes. First, refugee/immigrant DV survivors were given a voice in the development of the intervention since the assessment in part elicited their views on how best to help DV survivors from their communities. Second, among the community and institutional partners on the research team, an atmosphere of co-learning was fostered which provided an opportunity for practitioners to learn about assessment and community based research, and for researchers to learn about cultural variations in DV and complexities of service provision to refugee/immigrant survivors. Third, the participatory assessment was instrumental in laying the foundation for a successful partnership, which was poised to obtain funding for collaborative intervention research to implement assessment findings.

After providing an overview of the participatory assessment, we will describe the process by which academic, health department and community based organization partners developed an intervention to address DV as a social determinant of health. We will explain the steps taken in developing the professional and organizational relationships, and the necessary boundaries, flexibility and sensitivities that enabled the partnership to thrive. Additionally, the components of the intervention will be described. This case study is particularly compelling due to its complexity, based both on the research subject and the cross-cultural partnership (both organizational culture and the cultural backgrounds of the collaborators).

Learning Objectives:

• Explicate a model of a successful partnership for intervention research starting with participatory assessment.
• Identify specific ways in which community-based partners shaped intervention research.
• Recognize instances in which partners may need to adjust their expectations for the research or the intervention in order to respect and nurture the partnership.

Keywords: Community Collaboration, Domestic Violence

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.