Understanding how healthcare professionals view their role in relation to woman abuse

In Canada, at least one woman in five will be abused by an intimate partner. In order to become free from an abusive man, women often need support from individuals outside of their relationship. Primary care Healthcare Providers (HCPs) are uniquely positioned to identify woman abuse and provide support. Interviews with nine primary care healthcare professionals were conducted and subjected to an interpretative phenomenological analysis. Six themes that related to participants' lived experience emerged from the analysis. These themes included: a) a sense of duty; b) suspicion; c) dealing with role conflict; d) experiencing uncertainty; e) asking as a place, and f) working to guide patients without a roadmap. These findings are discussed in relation to recommendations for how HCPs can overcome their uncertainties, future directions for HCP education, and implications for screening policies.