Partnerships have been successful in building individual and organizational capacity, and have strengthened relationships between healthcare providers and DSV advocates. Innovative training structures have been vital to support ongoing partnership development, practice and policy change, and long-term sustainability.
“The success has been that the goal of the partnership fits nicely within our mission and it’s a very timely issue in our society. Being able to deepen the work of screening and expedite access to care for survivors of domestic and sexual violence has been a great thing.”
—Domestic and Sexual Violence Advocate
Lessons:
- Training is most effective through a team-based approach, by engaging all staff in order to overcome staff turnover.
- Diverse training models equip healthcare providers and DSV advocates with the tools and skills needed to improve practice and policy, such as:
- Cross-training models
- Buddy systems
- E-learning modules
- Integrating health into 40-hour DV training curricula
- Integrating partnership roles and responsibilities in organizational communication (org charts, job descriptions, staff meetings)
- DVHCP teams have been instrumental in building capacity more broadly by:
- Presenting at state and national conferences
- Coordinating task force development in their communities
- Providing training and technical assistance to local hospitals, schools, universities and law enforcement
- Spearheading community-level engagement
- Launching digital tools to champion regional DV and health integration
