Improving Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence in Family Medicine Clinics by Collaboration With a Community Organization.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Primary care clinicians are in a unique position to address intimate partner violence (IPV) in routine clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to improve clinician readiness to identify and manage IPV in four family medicine residency practice sites on the west side of Chicago by partnering with a local domestic violence organization. METHODS: Practice sites included three federally qualified health centers and one hospital-based office. Eligible clinicians included resident and faculty physicians, nurse practitioners, and certified nurse midwives. We assessed readiness using the validated Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS). We used initial survey results (n=53, 73%) to develop a targeted clinician educational intervention by a community organization. We administered the PREMIS tool postintervention at 1 and 6 months, measuring perceived and actual knowledge, preparedness, and practice issues. We performed comparison statistics to assess aggregate change. RESULTS: PREMIS response rates were n=53 (72%), n=32 (47%), and n=36 (49%), for preintervention, 1, and 6 months postintervention, respectively. Mean clinician preparedness score improved significantly at 1 and 6 months (P<.001, P<.009). Mean self-perceived knowledge score improved significantly at 1 month (P<.001) and trended toward improvement at 6 months (P=.07). Actual knowledge trended toward improvement at 1 month (P=.07) and after 6 months (P=.05). Mean practice issues scores did not improve significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in a 45-minute targeted educational intervention improved clinician readiness to manage IPV. Collaborating with a community partner builds a relationship for further referrals and advocacy for patients.

The impact of student-directed videos on community asthma knowledge.

The Student Asthma Research Team (START) program was designed to enable students to explore socio-ecological factors contributing to asthma through the use of Photovoice, a technique that gathers both photographs and personal experiences from participants. The photographs taken by and commentary from student participants were integrated into public service announcements (PSAs) intended to increase community asthma awareness and catalyze behavior change. This article evaluates the effectiveness of these student-directed PSAs at improving asthma awareness among peers and community members. Pre-PSA, immediate post-PSA, and 4 month post-PSA follow-up assessments were conducted to evaluate changes in community members' asthma knowledge and behavior. The student-directed PSAs were found to significantly increase asthma knowledge among community members, irrespective of age, gender, or race. Increased knowledge persisted through the 4-month post-PSA follow-up. Of the thirty-six participants who were successfully contacted for the follow-up survey, nearly 40 % reported meaningful behavior-change in response to the PSAs. Photovoice and media production techniques were effective in engaging adolescent students--an under-served and often disenfranchised population--in asthma health education through the development and dissemination of PSAs. The extension of participatory techniques such as Photovoice to include the creation of student-directed PSAs holds promise for engaging adolescents in public health initiatives within their communities.