Posted on June 24: McMaster awarded $3M to study how to identify woman abuse

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/MacMillan_opt.jpg” caption=”Funding announcement”]McMaster University researcher Harriet MacMillan has received a $3-million grant from the Ontario Women's Health Council to research how best to identify woman abuse in health settings.

Almost one in 10 women are physically abused by an intimate partner in any given year, and up to one-third of Canadian women report some form of physical or mental abuse over the course of their lifetime.

Many women disclose abuse during the course of routine or emergency medical visits, and therefore the health care response to woman abuse is key in helping women cope with this problem.

“To date, the research available does not tell us what health care responses are optimal to identify women who are abused and to assist them in getting the help they need in either the health setting or the community,” says MacMillan.

“This research program will ask women, both those who are abused and not, and their health providers how best to identify woman abuse in health settings. It will then test, using the design of a randomized controlled trial, which of three approaches best help women, and their children, reduce their exposure to further violence.”

“McMaster has always put a strong emphasis on responding to emerging social issues,” says John Kelton, dean and vice-president, Health Sciences, McMaster University.

“We have a strong collaboration between our researchers such as Dr. Harriet MacMillan, who is already well known in her field, and the health care community. This is important work for improving the lives of women and children.”

The research will be conducted across the province including Burlington, Chatham-Kent, Hamilton, Lake of the Woods, London, Sault Ste. Marie, Simcoe, Sudbury and Toronto. The settings will include hospital emergency departments, family physician's offices, obstetrics and gynecology clinics, community health centres and midwifery practices, among others.

Photo caption: From left, Susan Denburg, associate dean academic, health sciences, Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president research & international affairs and Dianne Cunningham, minister of training, colleges and universities, listen to pediatrics researcher Harriet MacMillan describe the benefits of her research. Photo credit: Chantall Van Raay