Domestic abuse in General Practice; What are the lived experiences of medical students consulting using Forum Theatre training?

Problem

Domestic abuse (DA) is a pervasive and widespread problem that leads to significant morbidity and mortality across the globe, which has increased in prevalence since the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing cost of living crisis. It leads to a multitude of health and social problems that persist long after abuse has stopped, resulting in high personal and economic costs. Patients affected by DA present more frequently to healthcare services due to their complex health needs, and thus staff in primary care are ideally placed to identify abuse and intervene. However, there is a lack of awareness, education, and training about how to identify and respond to DA. Recent research demonstrates that medical students do not universally receive training on DA, and of those that do, 75% of medical schools rate the training as inadequate. Our future doctors therefore need better training to improve patient care. Studies currently suggest that experiential forms of DA training provide most benefit. Forum theatre (FT) is a novel method of experiential training that allows for the safe exploration of difficult issues, raising critical consciousness and preparing participants for action in a real-world scenario. Given the significance of DA and its health impacts, the gaps in undergraduate medical training and the potential benefits of FT, this study aims to explore the lived experiences of medical students utilising Forum Theatre as a training method in consulting with DA survivors in the primary care setting.

Approach

The research will involve a group of GP trainees in Northern Ireland undertaking a Forum Theatre exercise that has been developed by a multi-disciplinary team, with subsequent participant interviews. A qualitative approach will be taken to explore the participants’ lived experiences using interpretive descriptive methodology.  This aims to gain deep insight into the lived experiences of the GP trainees undertaking this training.

Findings

The background, rationale and methodological considerations will be presented for discussion. The ensuring dialogue will help to give the research proposal firm grounding. 

Consequences

This research will review FT as a putatively novel method to teach GP trainees about DA, an oft neglected area of the curriculum and under-recognised occurrence in clinical practice. It will produce insight into the lived experiences of the GP trainees, exploring how to raise critical consciousness and motivation, and could introduce a novel training method to improve patient care in the area of DA.