Abstract
The prevention of intimate partner violence (IPV), the most prevalent form of gender-based violence, requires initiatives grounded in the values and norms of members of a given community. As part of an ongoing effort to develop a socioculturally responsive prevention program, we assessed levels of readiness to address IPV in an Asian Indian community in the midwestern USA. Consisting of six focus groups (n = 28), individual interviews (n = 6), and surveys (n = 189) of diverse community leaders and members, the assessment indicated that, while there was only vague awareness of IPV in the community as a whole, some limited segments of the community had a higher degree of readiness to address IPV. Capitalizing on the readiness and commitment of selected individuals, we developed a health communications campaign and implemented it in phases. We discuss methodological issues and lessons learned in assessing community readiness, including implications for study design and future research.
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This study was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CE000507-04 to First Author).
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Approval was obtained from the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board-Health Sciences and Behavioral Sciences. All procedures performed involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Yoshihama, M., Hammock, A.C. Assessing Community Readiness to Develop a Socioculturally Relevant Intimate Partner Violence Prevention Program. Prev Sci 24, 1340–1351 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-023-01567-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-023-01567-5