Understanding behavior change for women experiencing intimate partner violence: mapping the ups and downs using the stages of change.
OBJECTIVE
For women who are experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV), making changes toward safety is often a gradual process. When providing counseling and support, health care providers may benefit from better understanding of where women are in their readiness to change. Our objective was to apply the transtheoretical model's stages of change to the experiences of women who experienced IPV and map their experiences of change as they moved toward increased safety.


METHODS
A multi-disciplinary team designed a qualitative interview process with 20 women who had current or past histories of IPV in order to explore their experiences.


RESULTS
The women in our study (1) moved through stages of readiness generally in a nonlinear fashion, with varying rates of progression between safe and nonsafe situations, (2) were able to identify a "turning-point" in their situations, (3) attempted multiple "action" steps and (4) were influenced by internal and external factors.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that focusing on the transtheoretical model to develop stage-based interventions for IPV may not be the most appropriate given the nonsequential movement between stages and influence of external factors.


CONCLUSIONS
The "change mapping" technique can be used as an educational and counseling tool with patients, as well as a training tool for health care providers.
Chang
Judy C
JC
Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences and General Internal Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Magee-Women's Hospital of UPMC, 300 Halket Street, PA 15213, USA. jchang@mail.magee.edu
Dado
Diane
D
Ashton
Susan
S
Hawker
Lynn
L
Cluss
Patricia A
PA
Buranosky
Raquel
R
Scholle
Sarah Hudson
SH
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D018585:Battered Women / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology*; D003376:Counseling / Q000458:organization & administration; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation; D033262:Narration; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000458:organization & administration; D010414:Pennsylvania; D036301:Qualitative Research; D017751:Safety Management; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013179:Spouse Abuse / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors