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The Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence -Community Health Worker (DV-CHW) Collaborative Project aims to improve access and quality of health care and services to survivors of domestic violence, build community relationships and reduce health disparities. The program involves a partnership with Christiana Care, Child Inc., and Westside Family Health Care to streamline care for survivors, in which the healthcare provider screens for domestic violence, any positive screen results in a warm referral to a community health advocate, and the advocate meets with the survivor face-to-face at an agency, her home or anywhere in the community that she is comfortable. Warm referrals consist of healthcare providers calling local agencies on behalf of the patient or referring the survivor to an onsite advocate. Community health advocates are specifically trained in intimate partner violence/domestic violence and trauma-informed care to help with safety planning, emergency needs including shelter, food and clothing, and facilitate scheduling and transportation to appointments.
The purpose of the DV-CHW evaluation study is to identify successes and barriers experienced by healthcare providers, community health advocates and survivors who have participated in the program in its first year of implementation. The DV-CHW Program Evaluation is an interdisciplinary collaboration of UD faculty from the Departments of Women and Gender Studies, Human Development and Family Studies, and Behavioral Health and Nutrition; and a graduate student and undergraduate student research assistant. The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach including interviews with healthcare providers, community health workers and survivors who have participated in the program, and administrative data of baseline surveys and program information. Findings from this study will inform best practices for advocates and healthcare providers, offer recommendations for program development and facilitate communication between the Coalition and involved partners to better improve the quality of service delivery for survivors.
Team Members
Dr. Chiara Sabina (Principal Investigator, Department of Women and Gender Studies)
Dr. Ruth Fleury-Steiner (Department of Human Development and Family Studies)
Erin Rideout (Delaware Coalition Against Domestic Violence)
Dr. Laura Lessard (Department of Behavioral Health & Nutrition)
Kate Kafonek (Graduate Research Assistant)
Iris Cardenas (Graduate Research Assistant)
Desiree Delgadillo (Research Assistant)
Lauren Hogstrom (Undergraduate Research Assistant and Summer Scholar)
