Counteracting Abuse in Health Care: Evaluating a One-Year Drama Intervention with Staff in Sweden [Elektronisk resurs]

• In Northern European countries 13-28% of female patients seeking gynecological health care have reported abuse by health care staff (AHC). We conducted workshops with health care staff using the improvised role-play method Forum Play (FP), based on techniques developed by Boal. The study explores to what extent the intervention increased the staffs awareness of AHC and their ability to take action against it. A total of 16 half-day FP workshops were conducted with staff from a Swedish womens clinic over one year. Self-reported questionnaires were distributed to all staff before, during, and after the intervention. Primary outcome measures were the number of reported occasions of AHC and FP participants ability to act in AHC-situations. We found an increase in the participants self-reported ability to act in AHC-related situations. However, no change could be observed in the number of reported occasions of AHC between baseline and one year after the intervention. Health care staffs participation in workshops using improvised role-play can increase staffs perceived ability to take action in AHC situations. The voluntary nature of the intervention may have attracted those who were already aware of the topic, and likely explains the unchanged awareness of AHC. 

Ämnesord

Medical and Health Sciences  (hsv)

Health Sciences  (hsv)

Public Health, Global Health, Social Medicine and Epidemiology  (hsv)

Medicin och hälsovetenskap  (hsv)

Hälsovetenskaper  (hsv)

Folkhälsovetenskap, global hälsa, socialmedicin och epidemiologi  (hsv)

Genre

government publication  (marcgt)

Indexterm och SAB-rubrik

abuse in health care; Forum theater; role-play; ethical learning; professional-patient relation; communication training