Action research: a hospital responds to domestic violence

Using action-research methods and the principles of community development, a small working group initiated an organization-wide process to sensitize the Sunnybrook and Women's College hospital community to the relationship between violence and women's health. In this article, we explore the process by which the initiative was successfully introduced into the newly merged hospital. We describe critical factors for the initiative's success and offer some suggestions on how to maximize opportunities for organizational change.