Pilot testing violence against women training curricula with evaluation methods for healthcare providers and students in the Ghana-Michigan Emergency Medicine Collaborative

Pilot testing violence against women training curricula with evaluation methods for healthcare providers and students in the Ghana-Michigan Emergency Medicine Collaborative

Academic Year:
2016 - 2017 (June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017)
Funding Requested:
$2,000.00
Project Dates:
-
Applicant(s):
Overview of the Project:
Intimate partner violence and sexual violence, collectively known as violence against women (VAW), are globally pervasive with significant health consequences. The World Health Organization has recently developed guidelines for the health care response to VAW, and I will lead a team of investigators from the UM Department of Emergency Medicine to translate these clinical recommendations into education and practice of healthcare providers and students in low-to-middle income countries. With funding from the World Health Organization, I will develop this VAW training curricula, and through videoconferencing conduct a brief pilot with feedback in a low-to-middle income country, specifically Ghana. I am applying for this LPDF grant to cover travel to Ghana and conduct the curricular pilot on-site, and expand the evaluation to create on-site focus groups through the Ghana-Michigan Emergency Medicine Collaborative. The LPDF grant allows me to not only travel to Ghana to deliver the VAW curricula, but also conduct focus groups to further my scholarship and refine my teaching methods.

Specific Aims: Pilot test and assess VAW training curriculum feasibility and acceptability among health care providers and students in Ghana-Michigan Emergency Medicine Collaborative, and develop and refine pre- and post-training evaluation methods.
1)Pilot test curriculum among Ghanaian healthcare providers and students.
2)Focus groups of Ghana pilot sites will review curriculum and evaluation feasibility and acceptability.
3)Outcomes include qualitative data and resulting manuscript(s) on evaluation toolkit assessing self-reported changes and chart review adapted for Ghanaian learners and settings.
Final Report Fields
Project Objectives:

Specific Aims: Pilot test and assess violence against women (VAW) training curriculum feasibility and acceptability, as well as changes in knowledge, preparation, and confidence for VAW identification and response, among health care students and providers in Ghana. 1) Pilot test curriculum among Ghanaian healthcare students and providers. 2) Survey participants at Ghana pilot sites to assess changes in knowledge, preparation, and confidence in VAW identification and response, and assess feasibility and acceptability. 3) Outcomes include quantitative and qualitative data and eventual manuscript(s) on curricular impact on Ghanaian learners and settings.

Project Achievements:

We created a healthcare student and provider training on identification and response to intimate partner violence (IPV) and sexual violence against women in low-to-middle-income countries. The violence against women (VAW) training was developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), Johns Hopkins University, and an international advisory board. The knowledge- and skills-building training was adapted from the WHO Clinical Handbook on Health care for women subjected to IPV or sexual violence, published in 2014. The training emphasizes effective communication skills and first-line support using the LIVES response: Listen, Inquire, Validate, Enhance Safety, and Support. The training is made up of 8 modules including IPV survivor story, discussion, and role-play to simulate provider-patient interaction. The training package includes a facilitator’s guide, slides, and handouts for participants. We delivered the 2-hour training to 200 1st-year medical students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology School of Medical Sciences in Kumasi, Ghana. The training was additionally delivered to 84 physicians, resident physicians, nurses, midwives, and hospital chaplain at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ghana. These trainings were arranged in partnership with the Ghana-Michigan Emergency Medicine Collaborative, KATH healthcare staff, and local police domestic violence unit. The project was approved by the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board. We delivered pre/post surveys to capture immediate effects of the training on preparation, confidence, and knowledge about identification and response to VAW. Preliminary findings indicate that after the training students and providers had increased preparation, confidence and knowledge about VAW identification and response. Feedback from participants also indicated an appreciation for survivor story, role-play active learning techniques, and a desire for additional training to build-up their skill sets. A more in-depth evaluation is underway. The results of these pilot trainings will inform revisions to the WHO VAW curriculum. I will use aspects of the provider-patient role-play developed for this VAW training in the intimate partner violence teaching sessions I give in the Doctoring Course at the UM Medical School.

Continuation:
The project is continuing in that we are continuing in-depth evaluation of the Ghana pilot trainings, and we intend to: present findings from this project at a medical conference, write manuscript(s) on the quantitative and qualitative data from this project, and submit these manuscripts to peer-reviewed medical journals.
Dissemination:
The findings from this pilot project will be used to revise the violence against women (VAW) curricula requested by the World Health Organization (WHO), and the VAW curriculum will eventually be published by the WHO. Preliminary findings from this project have been disseminated to colleagues at the UM Injury Prevention Center and UM Global REACH program. I will continue evaluation of data for eventual presentation at a national conference and manuscript to submit to a peer-reviewed medical journal.
Advice to your Colleagues:
I communicated with CRLT staff to discuss possible extension of use of grant funds beyond original funding period, and I communicated with CRLT staff to discuss modification of budget.

Source URL: https://crlt.umich.edu/node/93002