“Are We Making an Impact?“: Perspectives on Providing Interpersonal Violence Prevention Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the U.S.

Abstract

Purpose

This study sought to understand violence prevention educators’ experiences conducting prevention education during the COVID-19 pandemic including barriers, challenges, and lessons learned.

Methods

For this study, we interviewed 25 violence prevention educators from across the U.S. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify major categories from the interviews.

Results

The first set of categories concerns prevention education audiences and modes during the COVID-19 pandemic (Research Question 1). The second set of categories focuses on barriers and challenges to violence prevention education during the pandemic (Research Question 2). The final set of categories discusses lessons learned by prevention educators during the COVID-19 pandemic (Research Question 3).

Conclusions

Findings from the study highlight both the barriers violence prevention educators faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and participants’ resiliency in working to overcome these barriers, including lessons learned for future violence prevention efforts. These findings suggest that some elements of prevention education implemented during the pandemic, such as virtual education and social media usage, may benefit current and future prevention education.