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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Anne M. Powers, PhD and Holly Carmichael. Centers for Public Health Research and Evaluation, Battelle, 2101 Wilson Blvd, Suite 800, Arlington, VA 22201, 703-875-2110, powersa@battelle.org

The purpose of this project was to identify promising practices in family and intimate partner violence (FIPV) prevention that can be utilized by federally-funded reproductive health clinics. These clinics are important access points because they typically serve young, low-income women – a population at-risk for FIPV. These clinics may also be the only contact that many young, low-income women have with a health care provider. Yet, these clinics often have resource constraints. Thus, promising practices recommended to these clinics must not only be effective but feasible and sustainable given the available resources.

Methods: To identify the promising practices, an evaluation was conducted of FIPV prevention programs at 9 clinics serving diverse populations. Interviews were conducted with staff from these clinics, asking about FIPV policies, training, materials and resources, collaboration with community organizations, as well as barriers and facilitators to FIPV prevention. In addition, the research team toured the clinics and reviewed materials and resources used by the clinics in their FIPV prevention program. On-site activities were supplemented with a literature review, interviews with state and federal staff overseeing the clinics, and a review of a comprehensive compilation of FIPV prevention materials by clinic staff and a communications expert.

Results: Promising practices were identified in four areas: training, screening and intake, clinical evaluation, and follow-up and referral. Example promising practices included: adding role plays to clinician FIPV training, recognizing patients experiencing FIPV, methods to help women safely and confidentially, and ways to identify and work with community organizations to extend clinic services.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Describe the steps taken to identify and evaluate the promising practices in FIPV prevention.
• Recognize the barriers and facilitators to FIPV prevention in federally-funded reproductive health clinics.
• Apply the promising practices to FIPV prevention in a clinical setting.

Keywords: Violence Prevention, Women's Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No