Ms Aoife Dwyer1, Lisa Singer1, Rodney Sturt1, Melissa Bernstein1, Cathie Smith1, Devereaux De Silva1, Cassie McDonald1,2
1Alfred Health, Melbourne, Australia, 2Department of Critical Care, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia
Biography:
Aoife is a dedicated, professionally qualified social worker with over 11 years’ experience working across a variety of health care settings in both Ireland and Australia. Aoife’s direct clinical experience has led her to recognise the unique opportunity health care workers have to recognise and respond to family violence while empowering victim survivors. In her current role as a Senior Family Violence Clinical Educator at Alfred Health, Melbourne, Aoife is passionate about supporting and educating health care workers to enhance a whole of health service response to family violence.
Abstract:
Family violence is an enduring global pandemic labelled by the World Health Organization as a “major public health problem”. The health sector has a critical role in providing comprehensive care to victim survivors of family violence. Ensuring staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise and respond sensitively and safely is essential to empower victim survivors.
The aim of this study is to evaluate family violence education packages implemented for clinical staff and managers.
Education packages were developed using current evidence, input from lived experience victim survivors and adult education theory. The packages were implemented in January 2025 in a major, quaternary public health service in Melbourne, Australia. Quantitative and qualitative data is being collected to evaluate patient- and staff-level outcomes of the education packages informed by the Kirkpatrick’s Model. This includes surveys, pre-post tests, patient feedback and records of staff supports accessed (family violence leave).
Quantitative data will be analysed and reported as descriptive statistics and paired within group pre-post data with McNemar’s test. Qualitative data will be analysed using content analysis.
Available outcomes after six months of implementation will be presented (estimated staff and manager participants based on current recruitment rates n=225) including, staff satisfaction, changes in knowledge, patient experience and staff supports accessed.
The findings of our study will inform education approaches for staff in healthcare settings which could be adopted and scaled to improve the health system’s response to family violence. The evaluation methods could be applied by allied health professionals delivering education in other contexts.