Developing an interprofessional strategy to address domestic violence in antenatal and postnatal care service: a quality improvement project

Domestic violence is an underreported public health problem and a serious violation of human rights that affects women throughout all life. We proposed a strategy focused on including a domestic violence approach in antenatal and postnatal care through a quality improvement project. The project was based on Continuous Quality Improvement approach and guided by the Plan-Do-Study-Act interactive cycle, adopting an innovative interprofessional perspective. The evidence-based intervention is part of a larger project that has been conducted within an antenatal and postnatal care service at a university hospital in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. We designed a strategy based on parallel small cycles: 1) identification of a strategy for screening domestic violence; 2) selection of a risk assessment scale; 3) development of a system for recording information and referrals; 4) meetings with multidisciplinary teams and brief training sessions; and 5) development of informative and educational materials for users and health professionals, including posters in clinic waiting rooms and support materials for multidisciplinary teams. This strategy is being developed by a multidisciplinary team, supported by intersectoral work with the social assistance network of the community, and facilitated by researchers of the hospital. The inclusion of this topic in healthcare settings is an opportunity to identify women in situations of vulnerability and thus facilitate their access to domestic violence resources from a holistic care and health promotion perspective.