"Confronting Violence: Improving Women's Lives" A Guide to developing Companion Programming

Hello, my name is Kendra Godwin, and I am a 2016-2017 Associate Fellow
at the National Library of Medicine, referred to here in this presentation as NLM.
This recording was created as part of my fall project,
in partnership with the Exhibition Program of the History of Medicine Division.
I produced this to serve as a guide for individuals who are developing companion programming
in preparation for hosting the exhibit, "Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives."
While this is my primary audience, I hope this presentation inspires you
with ideas for whatever project you’re mounting.
In this video, I will walk you through four sections.
I will introduce the traveling exhibit "Confronting Violence,"
the reasoning behind companion programming,
experiences and examples from "Confronting Violence" hosting institutions,
and three of my own programming ideas for you.
"Confronting Violence" is a traveling exhibit curated by Dr. Catherine Jacquet, and produced by NLM.
Told through images and records, it explores
the critical role that nurses in the 20th century played in
identifying, treating, and preventing domestic violence.
The traveling element, which you will be hosting at your institution, is comprised of
six free-standing banners, seen here on this slide.
These panels simply and evocatively communicate the themes of "Confronting Violence."
In addition to this exhibit, there is a companion website with more information, a Digital Gallery,
and resources for education and further study that include related resources at NLM.
This is designed to support hosts as they prepare for the promotion of the exhibit and
the planning of related activities and programming.
The central question that has driven the creation of this recording is: How can NLM better support
the efforts of a hosting institution to reach and meet the needs of its community members?
Related questions also include: How might the community members at or brought together
by your institution respond to "Confronting Violence," what stories might you want to tell,
and how best could NLM resources be introduced and integrated to further learning and conversation?
"Confronting Violence" covers an important topic and can inspire meaningful thought and collaboration
at your institution, and NLM wants to assist in helping you engage beyond just the traveling
exhibit and its promotional materials.
The companion programming ideas I have developed and will present here shortly are meant to
provide a comfortable starting point for individuals to explore NLM databases and other resources.
Before beginning this project, I thought it was critical to speak with institutions that
have hosted, are hosting, or will host "Confronting Violence," in order to understand their reasons
for selecting the exhibit, their actual or anticipated experiences, and any supplementary
activities or programs they had planned.
I sent out emails to six individuals who were exhibit contacts, heard back from five, and
was able to collect insight from four.
These individuals are as follows:
Aphrodite Bodycomb, Associate Director for Administration and Operations, was hosting
"Confronting Violence" at the time of our communication, from September to November of 2016.
Lauri Fennell, Reference & Patron Services Librarian, hosted from October to December of 2015.
Beverly Murphy, Assistant Director of Communications & Web Content, and Hospital Nursing Liaison
for the Duke Health System, is scheduled to host from May to June of 2017.
And Judy Stribling, Manager of the Myra Mahon Patient Resource Center,
hosted from February to March of 2016.
Common themes emerged from their responses.
Reasons for hosting this exhibit include believing the topic to be timely, of personal interest,
important, or important but not given enough exposure.
Individuals also felt that it was suited to
or could complement their health sciences programs.
They wrote that the panels are informative, appeal to various groups across their campus,
and that the theme can be used to make connections across multiple campus units.
There was also mention of foot traffic, and wanting something present in
a public space to engage visitors.
Individuals responded in a similar fashion to questions
regarding companion activities or programming,
that they try to complement exhibits with their own efforts whenever possible,
be it a display of items from special collections, or
a creative visualization of the number of individuals impacted by violence daily.
One individual did note that space, timing, and manpower can be prohibitive to these endeavors.
Recommendations from all included inviting guest speakers, and scheduling panels or lectures.
One involved a student who shared personal experience,
and another was a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner.
Ideas for groups to invite include those who deal with domestic violence on a daily basis,
like law enforcement, psychologists, and health care providers.
There was also talk of involving Internal Medicine health services, the Nursing School,
and the School of Social Work.
I also thought it was important to understand
the community members of the hosting institutions that responded.
Starting from their websites, I researched what schools, populations,
and organizations they serve and what these services entail,
and I imagined what their community member needs might be,
and what programming they might respond to.
That insight is also included in my programming efforts.
I want to return for a moment to the creative visualization I mentioned a minute ago.
I had the opportunity to visit the Health Sciences & Human Services Library
at the University of Maryland, Baltimore in December of 2016,
and the two photos on this slide are from that tour.
Aphrodite Bodycomb and her exhibits team developed a display using colored paper
to reflect the number of women impacted by various violence within the span of only one hour.
The case is full, as the second photo notes that “Every 9 seconds,
a woman in this country is a victim of a violent crime.”
While the "Confronting Violence" exhibit is no longer hosted there, the display remains
centered in the foyer, the first thing people see when they enter the library.
The themes of "Confronting Violence" continue to make a powerful impact.
As the majority of the hosting institutions interviewed for my project and within the
experience of the Exhibition Program are health sciences libraries for higher education,
this is where I set my focus.
The target audiences are faculty and students, the public, and community organizations, and
I considered partnerships and NLM resources with their interests and needs in mind.
My first companion programming idea incorporates resources from
the National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology, known as NICHSR,
into the education of nursing students.
NICHSR is an arm of NLM, and its mission is to improve the collection, storage, analysis,
retrieval, and dissemination of health services research.
Within NICHSR is the Health Services Research Information Central portal, or HSRIC, and
I am specifically interested in promoting the research support that this portal provides.
HSRIC has a page specifically on Domestic Violence, aimed at providing information on
this topic to assist researchers, policy makers, and practitioners.
I propose you use this resource to engage with faculty and students through the development
of a workshop or supplemental day of lecture and discussion for the classroom.
You can access this resource by visiting the Education section of
the "Confronting Violence" website, and clicking on Related Resources at NLM.
Under the Health Services Research resource side tab, and past the introduction,
there will be a bank of links.
Click on the link below the Domestic Violence HSR Topic Page.
Alternatively, you can also enter from the main NLM website, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/.
Click on Health Services Research & Public Health below Research at NLM at the bottom middle of the page,
then HSR Information Central under Collaborative Projects.
Finally, select Domestic Violence under HSR Topics.
Once you are on the Domestic Violence page,
you will see that it is divided into numerous sections.
These sections include pre-structured searches on domestic violence within NLM resources;
news; data, tools, statistics; assessment tools, guidelines, and publications;
education and training; meetings, conferences, and webinars;
grants, funding, and fellowships; legislation; and key organizations.
As mentioned on the page, the literature and resources
related to domestic violence are growing, but can be difficult to locate.
The goal of Health Services Research and Public Health Information Programs
is to integrate resources into research and practice,
and for Health Services Research specifically the goal is one of studying access, costs, and quality.
Taken as a whole, I can’t think of anything more critical for today’s students, and
your programming can connect them to this resource.
Domestic violence began to be treated as a significant health issue
when concerned and diligent parties proved its severity with statistics and reports.
My idea for the workshop or day of supplementary curriculum is to keep this focus
on data, assessment, and screening tools, as expressed on the page.
Nursing students also need excellent training, a focus of the page as well.
Buy-in for this idea requires facilitation and agreement amongst nursing school staff.
Various stakeholders at the institution should be involved before any planning is undertaken,
but once there is support, these same individuals can be used for promotion and outreach.
I also propose you invite a visiting counselor
to instruct and moderate discussion amongst the students.
The material for these discussions will come from watching the older videos available on
the "Confronting Violence" website within the Digital Gallery,
and students will engage with one another and inform their future methods
with an observance of behavior and practice both then and now.
My second companion programming idea involves introducing the public to personal stories
of domestic abuse in a way that will foster communication and community, and encourage
the exploration of information resources.
I propose that you consider both the perspective of the health care professional
and the person who experienced the violence.
I suggest planning a reception for the opening of the "Confronting Violence" exhibit where
the public can attend, explore exhibit themes, share experiences, and educate themselves
on resources available.
People of all ages should be encouraged to attend.
Promotion can be done through local libraries and organizations that specialize in
domestic violence relief and services,
and the event can be advertised on institutional social media.
To ease into stories, reflect on the past and present, and tie directly to the exhibit,
invite both retired and practicing local nurses.
They can provide personal stories of experience.
Reach out through your Nursing Liaison Librarian if you have one,
or leverage your institutional network.
I recognize that this is a difficult topic, and that
not everyone feels comfortable experiencing it or sharing in the same way.
Provide a space and time for the public to share their experiences as well, but include
a collective creative area where art and collage can be worked on as a sort of therapy and
icebreaker amongst attendees.
Set aside a space where these art pieces can be displayed afterwards.
Alongside this reception, it is important to keep the public informed.
Not everyone knows where to access information relating to domestic violence.
For this reason, I want you to direct the public’s attention to the up-to-date, credible,
and linked information of MedlinePlus.
MedlinePlus is NLM's consumer health information service, and it provides encyclopedic pages
on many health-related topics, collected from NLM and across trusted health organizations,
and the information is available in both English and Spanish.
MedlinePlus has a page on domestic violence specifically.
Access this resource by visiting the main NLM website and
clicking on MedlinePlus under Databases, or visit MedlinePlus.gov directly.
Click on either of the two Health Topics icons in the upper left.
From there, you can either search alphabetically
by clicking on D and scrolling to Domestic Violence,
or by clicking on Social/Family Issues under Health and Wellness
and scrolling to Domestic Violence.
Once you are on the page, you will clearly see how its components have been structured.
To connect to this resource while at the reception, computers or tablets should be provided to
make this resource accessible, with staff on hand to assist with the provided technology
or if attendees require help accessing MedlinePlus on their personal mobile devices.
Additionally, you may want to complement the reception and the ensuing months of hosting
with a local display of items from your own special collections or archives.
My third companion programming idea involves
a cross-organizational and cross-disciplinary journal club.
Domestic violence is a topic that affects so many different individuals, and bridges
across and beyond the health sciences.
By partnering with community organizations in your area and involving different schools,
departments, or units, each can lend a different perspective and expertise when engaged in
conversation with others.
The academic and the practical can meet here to explore the impact of domestic violence
and how best to respond and care for those who experience it.
The companion web page to the sixth "Confronting Violence" banner titled “And the Work Continues”
notes that activists today have developed innovative approaches to sharing information
and assisting in recovery.
While the exhibit mostly examines domestic violence as it relates to women in general,
there is an increased focus on the specific needs of teens, immigrant women,
women of color, and the role of men in stopping violence.
Use these ideas as a springboard, and consider as well
how this issue affects men, trans, and non-cisgender individuals differently.
Make your institution and the traveling exhibit
the focal point for the first meeting, and a place to gather.
Shift to an online forum if you feel that will keep and encourage participation.
Use institutional social media, websites, and organization and liaison contacts to advertise.
When selecting your journal club readings, leverage the free and full-text journal articles
on Domestic Violence via PubMed Central, or PMC.
PMC is the digital counterpart to NLM’s print journal collection.
It is an archive of scholarly biomedical and life sciences articles that are free, full-text,
and publicly available online.
You can access a selection of these writings by visiting the Education section of
the "Confronting Violence" website, and clicking on Related Resources at NLM.
Under the PubMed Central resource side tab, you will see sixteen articles listed, with
links directly to the item within PMC.
One example article is titled “Barriers to Screening for Domestic Violence,” from
the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
This is a curated list, and a great place to start, but there are many more articles
available via PMC using MeSH or generic domestic violence search terms.
PMC for search purposes can be accessed by starting at the main NLM website, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/,
and selecting PubMed/MEDLINE in the upper left under Databases.
Either select PubMed Central under Popular at the bottom middle of the page, or
enter your term into the search bar and then limit your search by PMC.
PMC can also be accessed from the main NLM website by clicking on All NLM Databases & APIs
in the upper left under Databases, and then scrolling to PubMed Central (PMC).
In a 2014 Medical Library Association oral history, past NLM Director Dr. Donald Lindberg
noted the successes of the Exhibition Program.
He found it striking that every traveling exhibit is amplified and made unique with
the things that each hosting institution is most proud of.
In addition to the ideas I covered today, I invite you to think like Lindberg as you
plan for hosting, and look to the items and partnerships that you are most proud of.
Consider highlighting these alongside the "Confronting Violence" exhibit, and use them
as inspiration for activities and programming.
This is what will set you apart and lead to a successful and engaging exhibition.
Before closing, I want to thank all of the individuals who responded to my call for comments
on "Confronting Violence," and for my colleagues at NLM for their support.
You were all instrumental in guiding my development of this project.
Please reach out to Jiwon and I with your thoughts, constructive comments, and any programming
success stories you care to share.
Thank you for listening.

"Confronting Violence: Improving Women's Lives" A Guide to developing Companion Programming

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