Objective. Studies have shown high lifetime prevalence of abuse in health care (AHC) in Nordic gynaecological patients. For patients AHC implies feeling disempowered, dehumanised and devalued. The aim of our study was to apprehend health care staff's perceptions of AHC. Study design. Qualitative interviews with staff at a Swedish gynaecological clinic analysed by Constant comparative analysis (N = 21). Results. The two categories - ethical failures against a patient and staff members avoid responsibility - gives two disparate pictures of what AHC is. The interviews showed that these pictures can exist alongside even if they contradict each other. The core category 'ethical lapses' brings staff's contradictory reflections on AHC together in one picture. Notable is that the dualistic notion of AHC did not result in a moral conflict within staff members. Conclusion. Health care staff perceives AHC primarily as ethical lapses. Avoiding responsibility for AHC might lead to a failing recognition of AHC, implying that the problem is not properly dealt with. Our study highlights the need for a more open attitude in health care staff toward AHC. To counteract AHC, staff members need to accept that AHC occurs also in their own units, bringing in moral conflicts in the everyday work.

As health care exists to alleviate patients’ suffering it is unacceptable that it inflicts unnecessary suffering on patients. We therefore have developed and evaluated a drama pedagogical model for staff interventions using Forum Play, focusing on staff’s experiences of failed encounters where they have perceived that the patient felt abused. In the current paper we present how our preliminary theoretical framework of intervening against abuse in health care developed and was revised during this intervention.During and after the intervention, five important lessons were learned and incorporated in our present theoretical framework. First, a Forum Play intervention may break the silence culture that surrounds abuse in health care. Second, organizing staff training in groups was essential and transformed abuse from being an individual problem inflicting shame into a collective responsibility. Third, initial theoretical concepts “moral resources” and “the vicious violence triangle” proved valuable and became useful pedagogical tools during the intervention. Four, the intervention can be understood as having strengthened staff’s moral resources. Five, regret appeared to be an underexplored resource in medical training and clinical work.The occurrence of abuse in health care is a complex phenomenon and the research area is in need of theoretical understanding. We hope this paper can inspire others to further develop theories and interventions in order to counteract abuse in health care.

Obstetric violence refers to the mistreatment of women in pregnancy and childbirth care by their health providers. It is linked to poor quality of care, lack of trust in health systems, and adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Evidence of interventions to reduce and prevent obstetric violence is limited. We developed a training intervention using a participatory theatre technique called Forum Play inspired by the Theatre of the Oppressed for health providers in Sri Lanka. This paper assesses the potential of the training method to increase staff awareness of obstetric violence and promote taking action to reduce or prevent it. We conducted four workshops with 20 physicians and 30 nurses working in three hospitals in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Participants completed a questionnaire before and three-to-four months after the intervention. At follow-up, participants more often reported that they had been involved in situations of obstetric violence, indicating new knowledge of the phenomenon and/or an increase in their ability to conceptualise it. The intervention appears promising for improving the abilities of health care providers to recognise obstetric violence, the first step in counteracting it. The study demonstrates the value of developing further studies to assess the longitudinal impacts of theatre-based training interventions to reduce obstetric violence and, ultimately, improve patient care.

To Marianne Zbikowski Abstract Background: Abuse of patients by health care staff (AHC) is a cause of unnecessary suffering, which is inconsonant with the premise in medicine of not doing harm to the patient. The understanding of AHC in this thesis is considered two-dimensional: as a patient's subjective experience and as violation of a patient's dignity. Patients' experiences of these events are rather well studied and are characterized by feelings of neglect and a loss of their human value. However, little is known about staff's perspectives on AHC and what they can do to counteract it.