Program

Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, Michelle Patch, PhD, APRN-CNS, Richelle Bolyard Accurate and trauma-informed risk communication is essential in supporting the safety of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV), particularly within health care, criminal justice, and IPV service agencies. Despite widespread adoption of tools like the Danger Assessment (DA), practitioners often need more support to learn how to skillfully use these tools in survivor-centered, non-triggering ways. Plan This workshop, led by the creator of the Danger Assessment (DA) and a team of experts, shifts the focus from the “science of risk assessment” to the practical, trauma-informed skills needed to effectively engage in risk assessment, communication, and safety planning with IPV survivors. Aimed at nurses and domestic violence advocates, the session will introduce participants to varied versions of the Danger Assessment, and offer new strategies for using the DA calendar, risk factors, and danger levels to support safety planning with survivors from diverse backgrounds. Specific issues addressed in this session include the neurobiology of trauma and the implications for risk assessment; the use of culturally appropriate adaptations of the DA (for Indigenous, immigrant, and LGBTQ survivors); safety planning and suicidality; and system-level integration of the DA in healthcare. Attendees will have opportunities to develop and deliver risk messages based on the DA and leave with tools and resources for use in practice. Those not yet certified in the Danger Assessment will be eligible for certification and given information about how to obtain the additional training they need online.

Alisa Velonis, MPH, PhD, Patricia O'Campo, PhD, Nicholas Metheny, PhD, MPH, RN Effectively capturing diverse perspectives—especially those of marginalized individuals—is a major challenge in gender-based violence (GBV) research and service planning. Traditional methods often risk amplifying the voices of those in power while overlooking the insights of survivors and community members most affected. Group Concept Mapping (GCM) is a participatory and structured method that captures and organizes ideas from diverse communities of participants in ways that can be immediately applied to action and problem solving. Plan In this workshop, participants will be introduced to the step-by-step process of Group Concept Mapping (GCM) and how it can be useful to advocates, program planners, evaluators and researcher who want to generate, organize and present ideas that reflect the collective thinking of diverse participants. Participants will design a GCM project - from brainstorming and idea refinement to data visualization and interpretation, using groupwisdom™ software. The session will consider the method's relevance for survivor-centered GBV research, including ethical and practical considerations. Attendees will leave with a working knowledge of GCM, examples of its application in real-world GBV projects, and resources to design and implement their own GCM initiatives. No quantitative research background is required, and all participants will receive a comprehensive GCM workbook and additional tools.

Dr. Colleen Varcoe, RN, PhD, FCAHS, FCAN Professor Emeritus, University of British Columbia School of Nursing In a world marked by escalating violence—interpersonal, institutional, and structural—how do we respond without succumbing to despair or paralysis? This talk explores the ethical imperative of action in dangerous times, centering agency as both a personal and collective force. Nurses are well-positioned both as clinicians and agents of structural change. Underpinning actions and language with structural analysis and extending such understanding to others holds potential to inspire more deliberate, justice-oriented responses. Rather than offering simple solutions, the talk invites reflection on the complexities of acting ethically and effectively in contexts of harm. It is a call to resist hopelessness, to claim agency, and to imagine responses rooted in courage, care, and structural change.

Join us for good food and drink, live music and a time to meet new people and reconnect with old friends.