Integrated system responses for families impacted by violence: a scoping review protocol

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Sociology
• Systems Science

Background:

• Family violence significantly impacts health and well-being, especially for women and children.
• Recognized as a complex issue with interacting social, economic, health, and cultural elements.
• Existing services often address only parts of the problem, neglecting complex interactions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline a scoping review protocol for exploring integrated approaches to family violence.
• To utilize a complexity theory lens to understand the conceptualization of integrated family violence services.
• To identify how system agents and their interactions are conceptualized in the literature.

Main Methods:

• Scoping review protocol following Arksey and O'Malley and Levac frameworks.
• Searched 6 databases, 3 journals, and 10 websites using keywords for integration and complex adaptive systems.
• Included English, full-text articles published after 2010, focusing on evidence of system agent interaction.

Main Results:

• The protocol applies complexity theory to analyze reflexive interaction patterns between system elements.
• Identifies how system agents, their interactions, and the context of family violence are conceptualized.
• Highlights the need to consider adaptive reflexivity in service design.

Conclusions:

• The scoping review protocol provides a framework for understanding integrated family violence approaches.
• Complexity theory offers a lens to analyze the nonlinear, endogenous nature of family violence and its solutions.
• Findings will inform future research and stakeholder consultations for improved service delivery.