How Can Child Health Services Identify and Respond to Family Violence

Family violence has severe impacts on children's health and development. The Child Health Services (CHS) in Sweden reaches almost 100% of families with young children and provides a unique setting to facilitate identification of family violence. This study is a three-armed randomized controlled trial (RCT) conducted to assess the effectiveness of different approaches to identify family violence within CHS. Two different approaches are tested and compared to treatment as usual; 1) information about family violence at home visit when child is newborn, and questions posed to all mothers at the 6-8-week visit; 2) information about family violence at home visit when child is newborn, and questions posed to mothers on evidence based indication. Nurses who are randomized into any of the two intervention arms receive training and supervision. The outcomes of the study are related to knowledge, attitudes, and practices around identification and support in case of family violence and number of identified cases of family violence.