Boundary spanners: Negotiating connections across primary care and domestic violence and abuse services

Anna Dowrick, Moira Kelly, Gene Feder

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle (Academic Journal)peer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)
322 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Improving access to support for people experiencing domestic violence and abuse requires better connections between healthcare services and specialist domestic violence and abuse (DVA) support agencies. We examined the work involved in restructuring the relationship between primary care and specialist DVA support services. This was part of a broader study of the implementation of a general practice DVA training and support programme (IRIS). We conducted an ethnography in two different UK areas where the IRIS programme was being delivered. We investigated the work done by specialist DVA workers (Advocate Educators) in the dual role of providing training to GPs and advocacy support to patients. Drawing on concepts of boundary actors and boundary objects, we examined how interactions between clinicians and patients changed after the introduction of the IRIS programme. The referral pathway emerged as a boundary object, meeting a shared ambition of general practitioners and patients to distribute responsibility for addressing DVA. However, maintaining this as a boundary object-in-use required significant, and often unseen, work on the part of the Advocate Educator as boundary spanner. Our study contributes to scholarship on boundary work by highlighting the role of marginal boundary actors in maintaining the use of boundary objects among disparate groups.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)112687
Number of pages8
JournalSocial Science and Medicine
Volume245
Early online date15 Nov 2019
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2020

Keywords

  • UK
  • Boundary object
  • Boundary work
  • Boundary spanners
  • Domestic violence and abuse
  • Gender based violence
  • Primary care
  • Implementation

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