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Preferred communication methods of abused women
Heidi Gilroy1, Judith McFarlane, Angeles Nava
1College of Nursing, Texas Woman's University, Houston, Texas 77030, USA. hegilroy@twu.edu
Objective:
To determine preferred communication methods of abused women.
Design And Sample:
A naturalistic study utilizing principles of Community Based Participatory Research. A total of 300 first time users of criminal justice or safe shelter for abused women were interviewed in person.
Measures:
The Preferred Communication Questionnaire was used to determine preference.
Results:
Given the choice of phone voice, face to face, phone text, e-mail, or Facebook, traditional methods of communication (face-to-face communication and phone voice) were the primary (80% combined) and secondary (58.6% combined) preferred sources among abused women. A total of 292 women (97.3%) gave at least two preferred methods of communication, 255 (85%) gave three preferred methods, 190 (63%) gave four, and 132 (44%) used all five methods.
Conclusions:
Public health nurses and other professionals who serve abused women should be aware of their preferred method of communication for contact. The women in the sample preferred face-to-face and phone-voice communication; however, many were open to newer forms of communication such as texting and Facebook. Caution should be used to protect the safety of abused women when using any kind of communication.
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