Course Description
The VEGA (Violence, Evidence,
Guidance, and Action) Project was
created to provide evidence-based guidance and education resources for
frontline health care and social service providers, supporting their
delivery of safe and effective care to those who may have experienced one
or more of three intersecting types of family violence: child
maltreatment, intimate partner violence, and children’s exposure to
intimate partner violence.
The VEGA Family Violence Education Resources include interactive
how-to videos, educational scenarios, and infographics to support oral
health care professionals, including students, in addressing the needs of
those who may have experienced family violence. This three-module course
was developed by the VEGA Project and McMaster University, with funding
provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada, in collaboration with 22
national organizations including CDHA.
The three modules are:
Module 1: Know About Family Violence in Canada
Module 1 provides information about family violence—child maltreatment,
intimate partner violence, and children’s exposure to intimate partner
violence—including definitions, prevalence, risk and protective factors,
and common social, emotional, and physical health impacts.
Module 2: Creating Safety
Module 2 addresses how providers can create safe interactions and
environments through trauma- and violence-informed care, including
patient/client physical, emotional, and cultural safety.
Module 3: Recognizing and Responding Safely to Child Maltreatment and
Intimate Partner Violence
Module 3 covers how to recognize and respond safely to family violence.
Each of the two sub-sections includes a care pathway, scripts, how-to
videos, reflection questions, and interactive educational scenarios.
You’ll also have an opportunity to listen to the voices of those with
lived experiences of family violence.
Additional reference materials including the WHY VEGA whiteboard video and
VEGA handbook are available on the VEGA website. Information about the
VEGA Project can be found
here.
If you have any questions or comments about VEGA’s resources, please
contact the VEGA Project Lead, Dr. Harriet MacMillan, McMaster University,
at vega@mcmaster.ca.