"I need to hear from women who have 'been there'": Developing a woman-focused intervention for drug use and partner violence in the emergency department.
OBJECTIVE
Addressing violence and linking women to community services in parallel with drug change goals is critical for women with coexisting intimate partner violence (IPV) and substance use disorders (SUD). Our objective was to develop a Web-based intervention to address violence and drug use among women patients in the ED.


METHODS
The intervention was developed in a five-step process: 1) Initial intervention development based on selected theoretical frameworks; 2) In-depth interviews with the target population; 3) Intervention adaptation, with iterative feedback from further interviews; 4) Beta testing and review by an advisory committee of domestic violence advocates; 5) Acceptability and feasibility testing in a small open trial.


RESULTS
Themes supported the selection of MI and empowerment models but also guided major adaptations to the intervention, including the introduction of videos and a more robust booster phone call. Participants in the open trial reported high scores for satisfaction, usability, and consistency with essential elements of motivational interviewing.


CONCLUSIONS
This qualitative work with our target population of women in the ED with SUD experiencing IPV underscored the importance of connection to peers and empathetic human contact. We developed an acceptable and feasible intervention distinct from prior ED-based brief interventions for substance-using populations.
Injury Prevention Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University ; Division of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University ; Brown University School of Public Health.
Esther
E
Choo
Brown University Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior.
K Morrow
KM
Guthrie
Injury Prevention Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University ; Brown University School of Public Health.
Michael
M
Mello
Brown University School of Public Health.
Terrie F
TF
Wetle
Injury Prevention Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University ; Brown University School of Public Health.
Megan
M
Ranney
Division of Sex and Gender in Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Chantal
C
Tapé
Brown University Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
Caron
C
Zlotnick
Domestic violence; Emergency department; Emergency medicine; Intervention development; Intimate partner violence; Substance use disorders; Women
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