TWU Professor Publishes Work In American Journal of Nursing

3/1/04

HOUSTON —An article by Texas Woman’s University professor Dr. Judith McFarlane and colleagues, based on a study aimed at stopping violence against women, is featured in the March issue of the American Journal of Nursing.

The 18-month study paired Dr. McFarlane and colleagues with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office in research funded by the U.S. Department of Justice. Researchers tested a telephone intervention intended to increase “safety-promoting behaviors” of abused women. Such behaviors include hiding money and an extra set of house and/or car keys and having important documentation such as birth certificates and Social Security numbers available.

In follow-up calls at three, six, 12 and 18 months after initial contact, researchers used a Safety-Promoting Behavior Checklist to determine whether the women continued to practice these behaviors at the different intervals. The study showed the women continued to practice the safety-promoting behaviors throughout the 18-month study period.

Dr. McFarlane, who holds the Parry Chair in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at TWU’s Houston Center, said though intimate partner violence is recognized as a major threat to women’s health, few interventions have been developed or tested. She and her colleagues believe this study is the first clinical trial of a safety-promoting intervention for abused women.

The research team consists of Drs. Ann Malecha and Julia Gist, assistant professors at the TWU Houston Center; Dr. Iva Hall, undergraduate coordinator at the TWU Houston Center; Dr. Sheila Smith, instructor in the Department of Nursing at Lamar University in Beaumont; Kathy Watson, a statistician at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston; and Elizabeth Batten, a bilingual caseworker for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

The American Journal of Nursing is the oldest and largest nursing journal in the world. Articles submitted to the award-winning journal are reviewed by three or more authorities who indicate whether the work is suitable for publication.

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For Further Information Contact:

Karen Treat
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Tel: (940) 898-3456
e-mail: ktreat@twu.edu