Domestic Violence

The purpose of this graduate student research study is to understand the effectiveness of an occupational therapy program in a domestic violence shelter. It is expected that participation will last about 6 weeks. Subjects will complete pretests involving lifestyle assessments and a coping scale and then participate in 8 occupational therapy sessions during the 4 weeks of program implementation. The occupational therapy sessions will last approximately 90 minutes. After the program is completed, subjects will complete the posttests. Procedures and Activities. You will be asked to: Complete a series of questionnaires about your health, well-being, and daily activities. Participate in 8 OT sessions that may include activities such as journaling, positive self-talk, coping skills methods, and grounding exercises. Complete the posttests.

This is a two-armed, fully powered hybrid type 1 trial to test the effectiveness of a doula intervention compared with an active control in reducing intimate partner violence (IPV) among perinatal IPV survivors

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a major public health issue and human rights threat worldwide, especially for Chinese immigrant women victims in Hong Kong. Interventions that address negative physical and emotional outcomes from IPV could therefore play a crucial role in enhancing empowerment, social support, and healthy lifestyle among these women. The overall objective of this pilot mixed methods study is to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a camouflaged WeChat mini-program-based WOMEN Health intervention for women victims of IPV. This study will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a camouflaged WeChat mini-program-based WOMEN Health intervention for women victims of IPV.

In this project the investigators want to test whether a new method FIT (Feedback informed treatment) can improve the interventions people receive through social services. The FIT method involves regularly providing information about how the client think things are going and what the client thinks about the help and care they receive.

The patients included in the study will be adult women who are victims of domestic violence, consulting for this reason. The duration of participation of each patient will be one hour. After obtaining the patient's non-opposition to her participation in the study, socio-demographic and history of violence suffered will be collected during an interview with the doctor/nurse. After that, the hetero-questionnaire MADRS (Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale) will be administered to the patient. This first part will last 30 minutes. The second part of the study, carried out immediately after the interview, will be carried out on computer in the form of 4 self-questionnaires (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, Deshumanization Measure within Romantic Relationships scale, self-esteem scale, violentometer) and an implicit association test (IAT). This second part will last 30 minutes. Then, the participation of the patient in the study is over.

COVID-19 has placed unprecedented strains on parents impacted by toxic stressors (depression, addiction, family violence, and poverty) and reluctant to see mental health-service providers in home/clinic due to fears of infection. Due to the pandemic, PI Letourneau ceased/delayed recruitment in ATTACH™, a CIHR-funded randomized controlled trials (RCT) of in-person (home or clinic) program designed to improve children's mental, emotional and behavioral (MEB) health and development via parent-child relationship intervention. Recognizing the heightened need for already vulnerable families to obtain safe parenting support to manage depressive symptoms/other stressors. The team's primary knowledge user (D. McNeil, Scientific Director, Maternal Newborn Child and Youth Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services) advocated for online delivery of the ATTACH™ parent training program. In response, an interdisciplinary team from nursing and software engineering rapidly pivoted to an online delivery format. Critical barriers to using existing commercial technologies emerged, making it essential to develop and implement tailored, user-informed virtual care delivery platforms and tools safe, secure, user-friendly for families already stressed. Innovative user interface design and integrated knowledge transfer approaches will be used to: (a) adapt ATTACH™ for virtual delivery; (b) develop virtual platforms (web-based applications) and tools (mobile apps) for flexible delivery of mental health supports for parents and training for professional facilitators; (c) integrate virtual mental health services into the primary care system promoting program uptake; and (d) design/test streamlined and intuitive virtual systems for nimble spread/scaleup. The project catalyzes and enriches the PIs' research program by crossing disciplines (nursing \& engineering) in cutting edge research that is responsive to trends in both mental health intervention and web-interface design. The aim is to adapt, develop, design and pilot test virtual (web-based) intervention program to improve children's mental, emotional and behavioral (MEB) health and development. This will be done by building on successful CIHR funded in-person (home or clinic) programs and pivoting to user-engaged program development, adaptation and pilot testing for virtual delivery in the face of COVID19.