Development and evaluation of sexual assault training for emergency department staff in Ontario, Canada

The purpose of this evaluation was to assess the efficacy of a training in improving competence to address sexual assault among Emergency Department (ED) staff, as well as to compare in-person and online training modalities.

A total of 1564 staff from 76 EDs in acute care hospitals across Ontario participated in either on-site (n = 828 staff) or online (n = 736 staff) training sessions, of whom 1366 (87%) completed both a pre- and post-training questionnaire. Mean pre- and post-training scores measuring perceived competence in responding to victims/survivors of sexual assault were compared using paired t-tests. The mean gain score for in-person and online training was then compared using the Mann-Whitney U test. Finally, in-person and online participants' ratings of the training content and delivery were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test.

There were significant improvements for all 16 self-reported measures of competence following training. The mean gain in knowledge and skills was higher for in-person training participants. Participants in the in-person modality more strongly agreed that the information they learned would help in providing care for sexual assault victims/survivors, and were more satisfied with the training overall. However, these participants less strongly agreed that there was an appropriate amount of time allotted for the scope of material presented.

Overall, the training led to immediate improvements in ED staff perceived understanding and ability to address the needs of victims/survivors of sexual assault, with particular advantages to the in-person training.