November 2014: Drs. Chris McLeod and George Astrakianakis have received funding from WorkSafeBC to evaluate the effectiveness of violence prevention programs in health care.

The project will focus on violence in health care situations, which has become a major occupational health concern with health care professionals experiencing higher rates of workplace violence compared to other occupations. The project will build on existing research into effective violence prevention and occupational health and safety management, and will develop leading and lagging indicators specific the risk of violence in health care in BC. The study will be conducted in collaboration and partnership with Fraser Health and the Vancouver Island Health Authority, who will provide access to occupational health data and facilitate the piloting of potential leading indicators within their facilities; and, also with the BC Nurses Union. Other key stakeholders will be engaged through the establishment of a project advisory committee.

An analysis of violence incidence data from the Workplace Health Indicator Tracking and Evaluation WHITE™ database, a provincial-level occupational health and safety surveillance system for healthcare, will be undertaken. Consultations with the health authorities and with focus groups will enable the development of a set of leading indicators. A pilot survey will be conducted in several Fraser Health and Vancouver Island Health Authority units; including emergency rooms, mental health units and owned and operated long-term care facilities. The results of the consultations and the survey will generate a feasible set of leading indicators that will be used to create and evaluate policies and practices to address violence prevention in health care situations.

Learn more about our work with leading indicators in occupational health: Occupational health and safety practices survey