Identifying Intimate Partner Violence Using a Standardized Questionnaire and Virtual Patients in Primary Care Settings

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating three different methods to help primary care professionals better identify individuals exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) in healthcare settings. The study aims to find out how much each method—a standardized questionnaire, virtual patient training, or a combination of both—helps in detecting potential victims of IPV. It also explores which method healthcare providers find most effective in improving their ability to recognize and respond to IPV cases. The study involves three groups of healthcare professionals at primary care units such as health centers, midwifery clinics, and youth clinics. One group will use a standardized questionnaire to ask patients about exposure to violence over the past year. Another group will receive training through interactive virtual patient scenarios to practice asking about violence and providing appropriate care. The third group will combine both approaches, using the questionnaire and virtual patient training simultaneously over a two-month period. Participants' performance in identifying IPV will be measured before and after the interventions using registry data and protocols from the care units. Additional qualitative focus group interviews with healthcare professionals will gather their views on which intervention was most helpful. The study includes background data collection on the participants, and results will be analyzed to compare the effectiveness of the three methods in increasing IPV identification rates. The project is expected to last three years with ongoing data collection and analysis.

Identification of Interpesonal Violence