Health and Wellness Outcomes of Intimate Partner Violence Support Workers: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Workers who support survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) witness some of the most traumatic acts of violence in their everyday work life. These experiences may cause distress that has implications for health and their ability to cope. This narrative literature review sought to explore what is known about the health, wellness, and coping strategies of IPV workers in diverse settings. A comprehensive academic literature search of five databases for peer-reviewed journal articles, available in English, published between January 2000 and October 2023 was conducted. A total of 34 articles on workers' experiences in relation to health, wellness, and coping strategies were included in the review. Thematic analysis generated the following themes: (a) diversity of IPV workplace settings and roles; (b) meaningful aspects of IPV support work including purpose and fulfillment, compassion satisfaction, rewarding and valuable work; (c) adverse experiences such as psychological distress and physiological discomfort, interpersonal social challenges, environment and organizational challenges, burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary trauma; and (d) coping strategies that considered coping behaviors and self-care, workplace support and accommodation, and meaningful sacrifice and adaptation. While the review provided important insights regarding the meaningful aspects of IPV support work and coping strategies, the adverse experiences of supporting survivors significantly dominated the literature. Unfortunately, the majority of studies did not clarify the context of workplaces, and this represents a gap in understanding workers' experiences. Future research is needed to understand context-related experiences of IPV support workers in relation to health and coping. The current review provides unique insights on diverse IPV support work settings and roles, work-related issues that may influence workers' wellness, and rewarding aspects of IPV support work.

Keywords: domestic violence; mental health and violence; vicarious trauma; violence exposure.

Figure 1.

Narrative literature review process.