Walking Beside Project
The Safer Families Centre is leading the Walking Beside (WEB) Project. Many women and non-binary people experience domestic and family violence, and this is a major health problem. As most victim-survivors see a GP or primary care nurse, we want to understand how to improve their care. We aim to improve the capability of primary care to respond to victim-survivors and coordinate referrals for survivors.
The WEB Project will build a better picture of how general practitioners (GPs) and primary care nurses can effectively work collaboratively with victim-survivors, services and peer support workers to promote safer relationships and well-being.
What
We will evaluate the health impact, implementation and economic effectiveness of a novel primary care system response to address domestic and family violence.
How
A randomised controlled trial will compare a primary care system response to usual care. This three-year study will recruit women and non-binary people who have attended a general practice and report experiencing fear due to a partner or family member's behaviour.
The primary care system response includes:
Fully funded appointment of 30 minutes for a first line response including a confidential discussion to understand risk to safety and prepare a plan for safety using a clinical decision support tool
Referral to domestic violence services and six consultations with a peer support worker over a six-month period
Peer support workers offer personalised, empathetic support and practical guidance to help victim-survivors understand and connect to available health and social services
We will assess whether this early intervention reduces women’s (and non-binary people) feelings of distress, increases their sense of support and safety and their help-seeking. We will also assess the early intervention's acceptability, feasibility and cost effectiveness.
Future Health Today (FHT)
Future Health Today (FHT) is a clinical decision support platform co-designed with general practice for use by general practice. FHT supports the sophisticated triage of at-risk patient populations with embedded practice quality improvement tools and delivery of real-time decision support during GP consultations. Every recommendation has a link to the guideline from which it is drawn, with resources for clinicians or patients as available. Resources can include detailed guides, referral pathways or information sheets. FHT displays recommendations for opportunistic review via a prompt which appears with patient-specific recommendations when the patient file is opened.
WHY
Improve capability of primary care to respond to victim-survivors and coordinate referrals for survivors and their children where relevant. We hope this project will provide evidence for the effectiveness of a comprehensive primary care system intervention that increases help-seeking and improves safety for those affected by domestic, family and sexual violence.
Where can I get further information?
If you would like more information about the project, please contact the WEB Project Office on 03 8344 4992.
This project was formerly known as the Women’s Emotional Well-Being project.
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The WEB Project team is being led by a multidisciplinary team all of whom have an interest in victim-survivors health and well-being. The University of Melbourne, Safer Families Centre will lead this four year study in collaboration with La Trobe University, University of New South Wales and Deakin University.
University of Melbourne
Kelsey Hegarty, Fiona Giles, Simone Gleeson, Kitty Novy, Lena Sanci, Laura Tarzia, Cathy Vaughan, Dougie Boyle, Patty Chondros, Caroline Johnson, Minerva Kyei-Nimakoh, Cath Kaylor-Hughes, Ralph Audehm, Lily Fetter, Lula Dembele, Heshani De Silva, Tracy Murphy, Rim Ghali.
University of NSW - Trish Cullen, Zoe King
La Trobe University - Leesa Hooker, Angela Taft, Bijaya Pokerhal
Deakin University - Lisa Gold, Renee Fiolet, Lata Satyen
Sax Institute - Alice Knight
NSW Health - Wei-May Su
Monash University - Jennifer Neil
International Universities - Jo-Anne Manski-Nankervis, Rita McMorrow
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The project involves women and non-binary people who have attended your practice in the last 12 months who will receive an SMS from your practice, asking about emotional well-being and relationship issues. At the end of the survey they are asked if they would be interested in hearing more about the next stage of the project. This would involve further surveys about relationship and emotional issues (e.g. depression, domestic violence, stress or worry) and may involve making an appointment to see their GP/nurse.
What will GPs and Nurses be asked to do?
Complete a survey containing some basic demographic questions, and questions about your referral practices
Give consent for Future Health Today to be installed on a clinic computer
If you have not already done so, participate in a DFV training program (4-6 hours) and complete additional online modules related to the Clinical Decision Support System and culturally sensitive care
If you are assigned to the intervention group, invite up to 5 victim-survivors to see you for a funded long consultation, aided by the Clinical Decision Support System
Voluntarily participate in a Community of Practice run by Safer Families Centre to provide ongoing support for use of Clinical Decision Support System
Consult as you usually would with any victim-survivor who comes to see you for emotional or relationship issues
Will I or my practice receive payment for participation in this Project?
Your practice will be compensated for the time involved and you will be eligible for quality assurance points for participating. If you are assigned to the intervention group, you will receive reimbursement for each WEB consultation.
What are the possible risks?
We expect the risks involved in participating in the project to be minimal, although we understand the topic is a sensitive issue. We will provide resources that you are encouraged to access if you feel you need to. You do not have to continue if you do not wish to.
There is no risk of victim-survivors patients’ partners finding out about their appointments from their MyGov or Medicare records.
Do I have to take part?
No. Participation is completely voluntary. You are able to withdraw at any time, however, depending on the stage of the trial, this may result in your patients enrolled in the Project also discontinuing in the trial. If requested, we will destroy any data we haven’t analysed yet.
What will happen to information about me?
The results will be available on a WEB Project web page and summaries will be provided to you. All information you provide will be kept strictly confidential by the research team (subject to legal requirements). Your data will be de-identified and only the researchers will know whose data it is. All information will be kept secure, in password protected files, encrypted storage, and locked filing cabinets. Research data and records will be kept for a minimum of 15 years after publication, or public release, of the research. It will then be destroyed according to University guidelines. De-identified data collected as part of this project may be used in other research closely related to this project, or in the same general area.
Who can I contact if I have any concerns about the project?
This project has human research ethics approval from The University of Melbourne (Ethics ID No 31084). If you have any concerns or complaints about the conduct of this project, which you do not wish to discuss with the research team, you should contact the Research Integrity Administrator, Office of Research Ethics and Integrity, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010. Tel: +61 3 8344 1376 or Email: research-integrity@unimelb.edu.au. All complaints will be treated confidentially. In any correspondence please provide the name of the research team and/or the name or ethics ID number of the research project.