We hoped to contribute by bridging this educational gap, ensuring that physiotherapists receive the necessary tools to identify and support domestic violence victims effectively. This would not only enhance their professional competencies but also improve the overall health outcomes for their patients. By implementing this project, we aimed to achieve several key objectives. Firstly, we were trying to enhance physiotherapists' skills in identifying and responding to domestic violence victims, ensuring they can offer appropriate support and additional help and resources to their patients. Secondly, we wanted to increase awareness towards DV victims among healthcare professionals, fostering a more supportive and informed healthcare environment. Thirdly, we strive to improve patient outcomes by addressing the barriers to treatment that Dv victims often face. Our goal was to empower physiotherapists with the necessary knowledge and tools to recognize and address DV victims effectively, leading to a lot better healthcare services and improved recovery rates for affected individuals.
We applied for this project because we believe that addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) within the healthcare sector is crucial for improving patient outcomes and ensuring effective treatment of patients. It is important that they are aware of how to identify and respond to domestic violence(DV) because victims frequently experience depression, anxiety, and helplessness, all of which contribute to poor adherence to physiotherapy programs. This can severely hinder recovery and increase healthcare costs, making it important for them to develop the skills needed to identify and help the patients contact organizations that can help them further. Physiotherapists are in a unique position to recognize signs of domestic violence, given their regular, one-on-one interactions with patients. Unlike physicians, physiotherapists spend more time with patients, fostering a trusting environment where victims may feel comfortable disclosing their experiences. We were determined to educate psychotherapists in the field and lessen the lack of IPV/DV inquiry in outpatient settings, largely due to healthcare providers' insufficient training on the subject. This project directly addresses this gap by aiming to develop and implement training.