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

Anke Zbikowski, A. Jelmer Brüggemann, Barbro Wijma and Katarina Swahnberg
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Anke Zbikowski: Women’s Clinic, Ryhov County Hospital, 55185 Jönköping, Sweden
A. Jelmer Brüggemann: Department of Thematic Studies—Technology and Social Change, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
Barbro Wijma: Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences (BKV), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Division of Children’s and Women’s Health (BKH), Linköping University, 58183 Linköping, Sweden
Katarina Swahnberg: Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnaeus University, Hus Vita, 39182 Kalmar, Sweden

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 16, 1-12

Abstract: 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 staff’s 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 women’s 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 staff’s participation in workshops using improvised role-play can increase staff’s 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.

Keywords: abuse in health care; Forum theater; role-play; ethical learning; professional-patient relation; communication training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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