title: A first online intervention to increase patients' perceived ability to act in situations of abuse in health care: reports of a Swedish pre-post study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Efforts to counteract abuse in health care, defined as patient-experienced abuse, have mainly focused on interventions among caregivers. This study is the first to test an online intervention focusing on how patients can counteract such abuse. The intervention aimed at increasing patients' intention and perceived ability to act in future situations where they risk experiencing abuse.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were recruited through a nephrology clinic in Sweden. The intervention consisted of an online program that aimed to stimulate patients to think of possible actions in situations in which they risk experiencing abuse. The program comprised stories and exercises in text and comic form. The participants filled out a questionnaire immediately before and after going through the program, as well as during follow-up four to eight weeks later.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Forty-eight patients (39 %) participated in the study and spent, on average, 41 min responding to questions and going through the program. Both men and women, of various ages and educational backgrounds, participated. An increase in participants' self-reported ability to identify opportunities to act in a given situation was seen immediately afterwards, as well as during follow up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The current study suggests that it is feasible and most likely useful to a variety of patients to work with the provided material that has the aim of counteracting abuse in health care. It would be of interest to further develop ways of using comics and to test similar interventions in other health care settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Gender and Medicine, Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden. jelmer.bruggemann@liu.se.|Current Address: Department of Thematic Studies - Technology and Social Change, Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden. jelmer.bruggemann@liu.se.
authors.forename: A Jelmer
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Brüggemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Gender and Medicine, Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden. katarina.swahnberg@lnu.se.|Department of Health and Caring Sciences, Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Linnaeus University, 392 34, Kalmar, Sweden. katarina.swahnberg@lnu.se.
authors.forename: Katarina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Swahnberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Gender and Medicine, Linköping University, 581 83, Linköping, Sweden. barbro.wijma@liu.se.
authors.forename: Barbro
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wijma
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D028701:Patient Rights; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology; D010465:Perception; D011340:Problem Solving; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D012306:Risk; D020377:Self Efficacy; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D055815:Young Adult