The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Staff in Violence Against Women Services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been harmful to survivors of abuse. Less understood is the impact on staff in the violence against women (VAW) service sector. Using interpretive description methodology, we examined staff experiences during the pandemic in Ontario, Canada, and found four core themes: (1) the emotional toll of the work; (2) remote (doesn't) work; (3) work restructuring; (4) efforts to stay well and subthemes nuancing staff experiences in a sector vulnerable to vicarious trauma. This research underscores the need to mitigate experiences of stress, heavy workloads, and guilt for staff in VAW services during crises and provides action-oriented recommendations.

Vaccine Hesitancy Among Canadian Mothers: Differences in Attitudes Towards a Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccine Among Women Who Experience Intimate Partner Violence.

OBJECTIVES: Vaccine hesitancy (VH) in maternal decision-making is important to understand to achieve community immunity targets and optimize pediatric COVID-19 vaccine adoption. COVID-19 is exacerbating the risk of intimate partner violence (IPV) for women in abusive relationships, a known risk factor for maternal VH. This project aimed to: (1) determine if IPV impacts maternal VH in Canada; and (2) understand maternal attitudes towards routine childhood vaccines and a pediatric COVID-19 vaccine in Canada. METHODS: As part of a cross-sectional, quantitative study, 129 women completed an online survey. IPV was assessed using the Abuse Assessment Screen and the revised, short-form Composite Abuse Scale. The Parent Attitudes about Childhood Vaccines scale evaluated maternal attitudes towards routine vaccinations and a COVID-19 vaccine. Questions informed by the World Health Organization's Increasing Vaccination Model (IVM) evaluated perceived barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination. RESULTS: In total, 14.5% of mothers were hesitant towards routine childhood vaccines, while 97.0% were hesitant towards a COVID-19 vaccine. Experiencing IPV was significantly associated with maternal COVID-19 VH (W = 683, p < 0.05). Social processes were identified as instrumental barriers and facilitators to COVID-19 vaccination, meaning that social norms and information sharing among social networks are critical in maternal vaccination decision-making. CONCLUSIONS FOR PRACTICE: This study provides novel evidence of maternal IPV significantly impacting VH and the presence of strong maternal VH specific to a COVID-19 vaccine in the Canadian context. Further research is required to fully understand the factors that build confidence and mitigate hesitancy in mothers, especially mothers who have experienced IPV.

The Resilience of Caregivers and Children in the Context of COVID-19: A Systematic Review.

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated caregivers and school-aged children to adapt to ongoing changes and uncertainty. Understanding why some caregivers and school-aged children area able to adapt and others are not could be attributed to resilience. The relationships between caregiver or child resilience and socioeconomic status (SES) in the context of COVID-19 remain largely un-explored. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative systematic review was to explore (1) what is currently known about the relationship between caregiver and child resilience in the context of COVID-19; and (2) the role of SES on caregiver or child resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Four databases (i.e., MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) were systematically searched, title/abstract and full-text screening were conducted, and 17 articles met the inclusion criteria (i.e., discussed resilience of caregivers/children during COVID-19, mean age of children between 7-10, primary research/grey literature, English), including 15 peer-reviewed and two grey literature sources. Thematic analysis revealed five themes: (1) the mitigating effects of child resilience; (2) overcoming the psychological toll of the pandemic; (3) the unknown relationship: caregiver and child resilience; (4) family functioning during COVID-19; and (5) the perfect storm for socioeconomic impacts. Results from this review provide the first synthesis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the resilience of caregivers and school-aged children. Future research should conduct longitudinal data collection to understand the possible long-term impacts of the pandemic on these populations' resilience. Understanding these impacts will be integral to assisting families in bouncing back from the long-lasting adverse circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Resilience of Caregivers and Children in the Context of COVID-19: A Systematic Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated caregivers and school-aged children to adapt to ongoing changes and uncertainty. Understanding why some caregivers and school-aged children area able to adapt and others are not could be attributed to resilience. The relationships between caregiver or child resilience and socioeconomic status (SES) in the context of COVID-19 remain largely un-explored. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative systematic review was to explore (1) what is currently known about the relationship between caregiver and child resilience in the context of COVID-19;and (2) the role of SES on caregiver or child resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Four databases (i.e., MEDLINE, Scopus, PsycINFO, and CINAHL) were systematically searched, title/ and full-text screening were conducted, and 17 articles met the inclusion criteria (i.e., discussed resilience of caregivers/children during COVID-19, mean age of children between 7–10, primary research/grey literature, English), including 15 peer-reviewed and two grey literature sources. Thematic analysis revealed five themes: (1) the mitigating effects of child resilience;(2) overcoming the psychological toll of the pandemic;(3) the unknown relationship: caregiver and child resilience;(4) family functioning during COVID-19;and (5) the perfect storm for socioeconomic impacts. Results from this review provide the first synthesis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the resilience of caregivers and school-aged children. Future research should conduct longitudinal data collection to understand the possible long-term impacts of the pandemic on these populations' resilience. Understanding these impacts will be integral to assisting families in bouncing back from the long-lasting adverse circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Navigating multiple pandemics: A critical analysis of the impact of COVID-19 policy responses on gender-based violence services

COVID-19 illustrated what governments can do to mobilise against a global threat. Despite the strong governmental response to COVID-19 in Canada, another ‘pandemic', gender-based violence (GBV), has been causing grave harm with generally insufficient policy responses. Using interpretive description methodology, 26 interviews were conducted with shelter staff and 5 focus groups with 24 executive directors (EDs) from GBV service organizations in Ontario, Canada. Five main themes were identified and explored, namely that: (1) there are in fact four pandemics at play;(2) the interplay of pandemics amplified existing systemic weaknesses;(3) the key role of informal partnerships and community support, (4) temporary changes in patterns of funding allocation;and (5) exhaustion as a consequence of addressing multiple and concurrent pandemics. Implications and recommendations for researchers, policy makers, and the GBV sector are discussed.

Resilience is more than Nature: An Exploration of the Conditions that Nurture Resilience Among Rural Women who have Experienced IPV.

Purpose: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a significant public health concern exacerbated by the pandemic. Experiences of violence vary based on geographic location and living in rural communities has been found, in some contexts, to amplify consequences of IPV. Resilience, the ability to survive and thrive despite facing adversity, has long been a dominant narrative within IPV literature, yet little is known about how resilience is cultivated among rural women experiencing violence. The purpose of this study was to explore how rural women experiencing IPV cultivate resilience. Methods: Using Interpretive Description, in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 14 women who experienced IPV and 12 staff from women's shelters across rural communities in Ontario, Canada to elicit perspectives about women's resilience and environmental conditions that may shape resilience in the context of IPV. Results: Women's resilience was cultivated by personal changes aimed at surviving or thriving, and aspects of their environment that enabled or created barriers for resilience. Women adopted a positive, hopeful mindset and bolstered their inner strength through living from a place of integrity, being resolute in decisions, and using mental resistance when faced with doubt. Women faced barriers to resilience in the form of unhelpful help and COVID-19 public health guidelines. Paradoxically, living in a rural community both cultivated and undermined resilience. Conclusions: Supporting women to cultivate resilience through modifying environmental factors to enable personal strengths to flourish is paramount in supporting women who have experienced IPV, particularly in rural contexts.

Impacts of COVID-19 on the Coping Behaviours of Canadian Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence.

Background: Strict public health measures central to slowing the spread of COVID-19 have, unintentionally, exacerbated risks for women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) while impeding their usual coping strategies. The goal of this study was to understand how coping was influenced by COVID-19 for women who have experienced IPV and identify changes in coping strategies and gaps that need to be addressed to support coping. Methods: A qualitatively driven, sequential, cross-sectional design, where quantitative data informed and was embedded within qualitative data collection, was used to explore the experiences of IPV (CAS-R-SF scale) and coping (Brief-COPE scale) specific to IPV of 95 Canadian women. A subset of 19 women was invited to complete an interview exploring coping strategies identified within the survey to contextualize and validate these findings. Results: Survey data subjected to quantitative content analysis identified ten themes, all of which were explored in semi-structured interviews. Thematic interview findings included (1) influence of COVID-19 on coping, (2) coping during COVID-19, and (3) needed coping strategies. Conclusion: COVID-19 had important impacts on the experiences and coping strategies of women who experience IPV. To better support this population in pandemic circumstances, in-person services should be prioritized with an emphasis on accessible and empathetic care. Public health measures in response to COVID-19, and the eventuality of future pandemics, should aim to be gender- and violence-informed.

Riding on resilience: impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women experiencing intimate partner violence.

The COVID-19 pandemic and resultant public health measures, although helpful in reducing the spread of the disease, have disproportionately impacted women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV). Despite these adverse circumstances, women continue to show resilience. Although difficult to define, resilience can be conceptualized as a dynamic process in which psychosocial and environmental factors interact to enable an individual to survive, grow, and thrive despite exposure to adversity. This research identifies facilitators and gaps in supports to promoting resilience among urban and rural women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) during the COVID-19 pandemic, via an online survey (n = 95) and interviews (n = 19). T-tests, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, and interpretive description were utilized for analyses. Almost 41% of participants experienced an increase in abuse during COVID-19, and resilience significantly decreased during COVID-19 (t(44) = 2.91, p = 0.006). Qualitatively, four parent themes (coercive control, social services, resilience, and future) and seven sub-themes emerged. Changes are needed in accessibility and delivery of support services for women experiencing IPV during COVID-19, and future pandemics.

"We're so limited with what we actually can do if we follow all the rules": a qualitative study of the impact of COVID-19 public health protocols on violence against women services.

BACKGROUND: Violence against women (VAW) is a major public health problem that grew worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. While all services were impacted by changing pandemic guidance, VAW shelters, as congregate settings with multiple funders and regulators, faced unique challenges. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative analysis of interviews with 26 women's shelter staff and eight women accessing care, as well as 10 focus groups (five each at two time points approximately a year apart) involving 24 leaders from VAW and related services in Ontario, Canada. RESULTS: We identified eight overlapping themes specific to government and public health COVID-19 regulations and their application in women's shelters. Overall, inconsistency or lack of clarity in rules, and how they were communicated, caused significant stress for women using, and staff providing, services. Staff and leaders were very concerned about rules that isolated women or replicated other aspects of abusive relationships. Women wanted to understand what options were available and what was expected of them and their children in these spaces. Leaders sought clarity and consistency from their various government funders, and from public health authorities, in the face of ever-evolving directives. As in the broader public, there was often the perception that the rules did not apply equally to everyone, for example, for women of colour using VAW services, or those whose first language was not English. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of consistent pandemic guidance and how to implement it, many VAW services devised tailored solutions to balance safety from COVID-19 with women's physical and emotional safety from abuse and its impacts. However, this was difficult and exhausting. A key policy implication is that women's shelters are a distinct form of congregate housing; they are very different in terms of services provided, size, type and age of facilities from other congregate settings and this must be reflected in public health directives. Better communication and synchronization of policies among government funders and public health authorities, in consultation with VAW sector leaders, would mean protocols tailored to minimize harm to women and children while protecting health and safety.

Experiences of Women Accessing Violence Against Women Outreach Services in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic: a Brief Report.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on violence against women (VAW), including increased prevalence and severity, and on VAW service delivery. The purpose of this research was to study women's experiences with VAW services in the first stages of the pandemic and describe their fears and concerns. This cross-sectional study was conducted from May through October 2020. Our VAW agency partners across Ontario, Canada invited women using outreach services to participate in a study about their experiences during the pandemic. In total, 49 women from 9 agencies completed an online survey. Quantitative data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and open-ended responses are presented to supplement findings. Women's experiences with VAW services during the pandemic varied greatly; some found technology-facilitated services (phone, video, text) more accessible, while others hoped to return to in-person care. Over half of women reported poorer wellbeing, access to health care, and access to informal supports. Many women reported increased relationship-related fears, some due specifically to COVID-19 factors. Our results support providing a variety of technology-based options for women accessing VAW services when in-person care options are reduced. This research also adds to the scant literature examining how some perpetrators capitalized on the pandemic by using new COVID-19-specific forms of coercive control. Although the impacts of the pandemic on women varied, our findings highlight how layers of difficulty, such as less accessible formal and informal support, as well as increased fear - can compound to make life for women experiencing abuse exceptionally difficult.

Navigating multiple pandemics: A critical analysis of the impact of COVID-19 policy responses on gender-based violence services

COVID-19 illustrated what governments can do to mobilise against a global threat. Despite the strong governmental response to COVID-19 in Canada, another ?pandemic?, gender-based violence (GBV), has been causing grave harm with generally insufficient policy responses. Using interpretive description methodology, 26 interviews were conducted with shelter staff and 5 focus groups with 24 executive directors (EDs) from GBV service organizations in Ontario, Canada. Five main themes were identified and explored, namely that: (1) there are in fact four pandemics at play;(2) the interplay of pandemics amplified existing systemic weaknesses;(3) the key role of informal partnerships and community support, (4) temporary changes in patterns of funding allocation;and (5) exhaustion as a consequence of addressing multiple and concurrent pandemics. Implications and recommendations for researchers, policy makers, and the GBV sector are discussed.

Experiences of At-Risk Women in Accessing Breastfeeding Social Support During the Covid-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: With strict public health measures implemented in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many breastfeeding parents, who are within an at-risk population, have experienced limited formal and/or informal breastfeeding social support. In the Canadian context, the experiences of these women is unknown. RESEARCH AIM: To explore the experiences of at-risk postpartum breastfeeding women in accessing formal and informal breastfeeding social support during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: This was a prospective, longitudinal interpretive description study using mixed methods. Data were gathered using an online survey and one 52-112-min semi-structured interview at 12-weeks postpartum. At-risk breastfeeding participants were those who lack social support and had at least one of the following: age < 25 years; experiencing or had experienced intimate partner violence; or of low income. We sought participants' experiences of accessing breastfeeding social support during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic/lockdown. Seven participants completed the survey and the interview. RESULTS: Participants identified that the COVID-19 pandemic created barriers to accessing formal and informal breastfeeding social support, which stemmed from public health restrictions and difficulties communicating online with families and healthcare providers. Additionally, participants identified that the COVID-19 pandemic/lockdowns facilitated feelings of connectedness, protection, and resiliency. CONCLUSION: We provide preliminary insight into the experiences of trying to access breastfeeding social support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Future researchers should seek to prioritize improved communication and resources in supporting breastfeeding during COVID-19 and future pandemics/lockdowns.

Impacts of COVID-19 on the Coping Behaviours of Canadian Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence

Background Strict public health measures central to slowing the spread of COVID-19 have, unintentionally, exacerbated risks for women experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) while impeding their usual coping strategies. The goal of this study was to understand how coping was influenced by COVID-19 for women who have experienced IPV and identify changes in coping strategies and gaps that need to be addressed to support coping. Methods A qualitatively driven, sequential, cross-sectional design, where quantitative data informed and was embedded within qualitative data collection, was used to explore the experiences of IPV (CAS-R-SF scale) and coping (Brief-COPE scale) specific to IPV of 95 Canadian women. A subset of 19 women was invited to complete an interview exploring coping strategies identified within the survey to contextualize and validate these findings. Results Survey data subjected to quantitative content analysis identified ten themes, all of which were explored in semi-structured interviews. Thematic interview findings included (1) influence of COVID-19 on coping, (2) coping during COVID-19, and (3) needed coping strategies. Conclusion COVID-19 had important impacts on the experiences and coping strategies of women who experience IPV. To better support this population in pandemic circumstances, in-person services should be prioritized with an emphasis on accessible and empathetic care. Public health measures in response to COVID-19, and the eventuality of future pandemics, should aim to be gender- and violence-informed.