How family doctors perceived their 'readiness' and 'preparedness' to identify and respond to intimate partner abuse: A qualitative study

Abstract

Background. There are few existing studies which have investigated the meanings of 'readiness' and 'preparedness' among family doctors working with female patients who experience intimate partner abuse (IPA). Objectives. We aimed to explore how doctors perceived the concepts of readiness and preparedness to identify and respond to IPA against female patients. Methods. We adopted purposive sampling and conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 19 doctors (11 females and 8 males) practising in primary care. Thematic analysis identified dominant and associated themes, and the coding framework was transformed into a thematic map. We further applied cross-coding and code-confirming pro..