Prevention of partner violence: virtual case simulation for religious leaders of Korean American immigrant...

The project 'Religious Leaders for Healthy Families' aims to prevent intimate partner violence (IPV) and increase access to resources for immigrant victims by enhancing the capacity of religious leaders. Due to cultural and psychosocial barriers, immigrant women prefer to exhaust informal resources, including religious leaders, before seeking help from professional service providers. This study reports the development of a virtual case simulation in which Korean American (KA) religious leaders living in the USA practice how to prevent and address IPV in their congregation. Intervention mapping (IM) guided the development of the simulation. This process was informed by theory, research and expertise in prevention and virtual case simulation. We partnered with victim service organizations and received feedback from religious leaders. The simulation was pilot tested with nine KA religious leaders and three community leaders with IPV expertise in the KA community. The resulting intervention consists of 4 behavioral outcomes and 24 performance objectives. We identified the knowledge, attitudes, outcome expectations and self-efficacy needed to accomplish each objective. The most creative phase was the development of four modules, as interactive virtual case simulations, that address all performance objectives. IM and social cognitive theory provided a useful framework for developing this virtual case simulation. With culturally responsive modifications, the intervention has the potential to be adapted for religious leaders from other immigrant communities.