Proposing Inclusion of Training on Intimate Partner Violence with University Residential Life Staff
Residential assistant (RA) staff at universities are frequently the individuals that students approach when they are having issues at school academically or personally. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is, unfortunately, a common issue that university RA staff needs to be aware of, but many people who have had no training in this area report feeling unprepared to intervene. This project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational intervention implemented among university RA staff to improve their ability to identify and intervene in situations involving IPV. A literature review was conducted on peer-reviewed articles and the evidence concluded that using a pretest to evaluate current knowledge on IPV, having participants attend training sessions on IPV, and then using a posttest to evaluate an increase in knowledge was an effective intervention method. Training topics include IPV and participants’ understanding of the subject, things to assess for when working with people who have experienced IPV, and role playing to allow participants to put these skills into action. The FADE (focus, analyze, develop, execute) quality improvement model was effective in developing an educational intervention and implementing it in practice. This project proposes that an educational intervention developed using the FADE framework will increase staff knowledge on IPV. RA staff who have completed the proposed training will be able to confidently identify students experiencing IPV and intervene appropriately. Staff who are trained will be able to provide support and refer students experiencing IPV to appropriate resources with the goal of preventing further harm from IPV.