Community-Based Organizations and Development of Implementation Strategies for Brain Injury Screening Resulting from Intimate Partner Violence - PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT People who experience repeated brain injuries (BIs) before the brain recovers from the initial trauma are at a high risk for neurological deficits, depression, suicide, and Alzheimer-like symptoms. Women who experience intimate partner violence (IPV) are at high risk for injuries to their head, neck and face – potentially resulting in an acquired BI. Among IPV survivors, BI can occur due to a traumatic brain injury (TBI) resulting from a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or through strangulation. BI can have long term consequences on IPV survivors' well- being and quality of life. Comprehensive screening among this vulnerable population and timely neurorehabilitation interventions (i.e., referral to, and receipt of, evidence-based approaches to mitigate BI- related health outcomes) have the potential to mitigate the impact of IPV-related BI and improve health outcomes. Despite the high risk of BI among IPV survivors and the availability of evidence-based approaches to address BI, there are no standard guidelines for BI screening in this group of women. The long-term goal is to advance scientific understanding of implementation strategies related to the secondary prevention of IPV- related BI that will inform future policies for timely screening, referral, and neurorehabilitation and ultimately reduce neurological damage among this population. The objective of this project is to examine how screening and detection of IPV-related BI can be effectively integrated into the workflow for community-based organizations (CBOs) serving IPV survivors using a participatory approach. The central hypothesis has been formulated based on preliminary studies and posits that CBO and stakeholder derived implementation strategies can improve the adoption, implementation, and maintenance of timely screening/detection and referral of IPV survivors at risk for a BI. Using the PRISM/RE-AIM framework and a participatory approach of community-engaged dissemination and implementation, these aims will be pursued. Aim 1: To evaluate adoption, implementation, and sustainability strategies of a brain injury screening intervention of IPV survivors at CBOs with and without stakeholder developed implementation strategies. Aim 2. To determine the reach and effectiveness of a brain injury screening intervention at CBOs serving survivors of IPV. Exploratory Aim. Determine client and CBO implementer's perception of the screening intervention and implementation strategies used in the project. The expected outcome is to increase currently limited knowledge of potential implementation strategies to integrate routine screening and referral for IPV-related BI. This outcome is expected to significantly contribute to the knowledge base needed to fully integrate the routine screening and referral of IPV-related BI in CBOs serving IPV survivors. The project will also allow for the identification of potential screening and referral strategies that can be used to connect patients with IPV-related BI to evidence- based approaches to mitigate poor health outcomes and identify methods to achieve secondary prevention.
