Piloting a Family Violence Community of Practice in a Hospital Setting using a Trauma Informed approach
Melinda Collins1, Marianne Crowe1, Carrie Lethborg1, Lisa Braddy11St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia
Abstract
The Social Work Department of a large Australian health service has initiated and led an organisation-wide family violence Community of Practice (CoP). The intention was to provide a trauma informed response to the educational and wellbeing needs of multidisciplinary staff who regularly work with cases of family violence.
The evaluation of the CoP model was a mixed methods research design, based on the broad Kirkpatrick model, involving self-administered questionnaires and reflective focus groups with CoP participants. Twenty-one healthcare professionals (25 places were offered) attended the pilot CoP in 2021. The evaluation of the CoP demonstrated that 93% of members learned something new as a result of attending and 93% of members believed the CoP was valuable and relevant to their practice. Members described a safe, learning conducive environment whereby they felt supported to extend their knowledge, skills and confidence in their own practice and in their support and guidance of other staff.
The findings from this pilot study suggest that the family violence CoP provided a trauma informed model of care to both build capacity at an individual practitioner level and to support the wellbeing of multidisciplinary staff. Allied health professionals in other healthcare organisations could consider implementing a similar model, especially in areas of practice with potential for secondary and vicarious trauma for professionals, in a context that suits the culture and priorities of their organisation.
Biography
Melinda Collins (she/her) has twenty-five years’ experience as a health social worker. Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts/Social Work in 1998, Melinda went on to obtain her Advanced Masters in Social Work (Health) in 2005. Melinda has worked in all areas across the continuum of hospital and community care. It is this experience that has led to her passion and commitment to clinician led, practice-based research. Melinda is currently the Research, Quality and Data Lead within the Social Work Department at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne