Kelsey Hegarty
Biographic Data
| ID | 84258 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kelsey Hegarty |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kelsey |
| FAMILY NAME | Hegarty |
| SIGNATURE | HEGARTY K |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Melbourne |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-7532-5147 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 85 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 119 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 85 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Designing a Peer Navigation Program Alongside Women With Lived Experience of Domestic, Family, and Sexual Violence
Linguistic and Cultural Translation of the Composite Abuse Scale for Women with Common Mental Illness in India
This study adapted the Composite Abuse Scale (CAS) into Kannada and Urdu for Indian women with common mental illnesses. The study used co-design. The method using a multi-stage process involving 62 women ensured linguistic and cultural validity, achieving high content validity (Content Validity Ratio: 0.98, Content Validity Index: 0.98). The adapted CAS was reliable and culturally relevant, highlighting the need for targeted interventions. This f…
A Systematic Review on Psychometric Properties of Instruments Assessing Intimate Partner Violence in South Asian Countries
This systematic review evaluates the psychometric properties of instruments used to assess intimate partner violence or domestic violence (IPV/DV) in South Asia. It addresses the need for culturally sensitive tools in IPV/DV research. The review identifies and critically examines IPV/DV instruments used in South Asian countries, assessing their cross-cultural validation and psychometric strength. Method: Databases, including PubMed, PsycINFO, Web…
“I Knew I was Going to Die …”
Strangulation is often used in cases of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, and homicide. Strangulation is a particularly intimate form of asphyxia, involving manual or ligature-based external pressure applied to the front and sides of the neck. This study examines non-fatal non-consensual circumstances of strangulation experienced by 19 Australian men who have sex with men. Although their experiences were diverse, interpretative phenomeno…
Experiences and Perceptions of Risk Among Australian Men Who Have Sex with Men Who Engage in Sexual Strangulation
Sexual strangulation—commonly referred to as “choking”—is a prevalent sexual practice among young people and individuals within the LGBTQ+ community, most prevalent in men who have sex with men. The practice of sexual strangulation is a potentially hazardous behavior that can have numerous deleterious health consequences. In some circumstances, strangulation can result in loss of consciousness, neurological injury, and death. While the health con…
Foundations of the Alive National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation
The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation was established in 2021. Funded by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council's Special Initiative in Mental Health, the Centre aims to foster innovation in mental health care. Central to this aim is embedding the voices of those with lived experience into all Centre structures and activities including leadership and co-design of research priorities for mental healt…
Screening for coercive control with refugee women accessing settlement services
Despite challenges due to differences in language, interpretation and cultural norms, this study found it feasible to enquire about controlling behaviour with refugee women accessing settlement services, along with other forms of IPV
Embedding Technological Tools Into Screening for Family Violence in Antenatal Care
The prevalence and adverse health consequences of family violence among pregnant women highlight a need to develop effective screening tools in antenatal care. We explored how antenatal care midwives at a tertiary maternity hospital in Melbourne perceive the use of technological screening tools for family violence. Seven face-to-face and 10 telephone interviews were conducted. Data analysis was conducted using thematic analysis. Five themes were …
Sailing Into Uncharted Territory
The engagement of people with lived experience as co-researchers is gaining momentum across areas of physical and mental health and community services research. Reporting of co-designed research often espouses the benefits and successes, without critical reflections on how the process was experienced by people with lived experience. This paper explores the experiences of victim survivor co-researchers on a research team at an Australian universit…
Experiences of Sexual and Intimate Partner Violence Among Women International Students in Australia
Sexual violence (SV) and intimate partner violence (IPV) in tertiary institutions have received increased attention in Australia and globally, however, international students have been largely neglected in academic and policy discourse. Little is known about the nature and frequency of SV and IPV experienced by these students, nor what sociodemographic factors are associated with victimization. This article reports on a national cross-sectional s…
Management of imposter participants when conducting online research with victim-survivors and perpetrators of violence
An increasingly common challenge facing researchers is participants falsifying their identity or their experiences to participate in online research. Imposter participants pose a threat to the integrity of research data, requiring careful risk mitigation strategies. In this case study report, we describe four projects across two institutions with victim-survivors and perpetrators of domestic, family and sexual violence in which we encountered imp…
Should we be concerned? A qualitative study of educators’ perceptions of medical student wellbeing in domestic violence training
INTRODUCTION: Domestic violence (DV) is common in the Australian community so it is likely that there will be medical students who are affected personally by DV. Some of these students may find DV training confronting or even re-traumatising. A trauma-informed medical education (TIME) framework utilising trauma-informed care principles may minimise this risk to students. We aimed to explore educators' perceptions of student well-being in Australi…
Women Higher Education Students’ Experiences of Sexual Violence
Sexual violence (SV) against women is common in higher education settings, causing serious harm to the health, well-being, and academic outcomes of victim/survivors. There have been numerous systematic reviews of the quantitative evidence on this topic, highlighting the prevalence, health impacts, and barriers and facilitators to help-seeking after SV. To date, however, qualitative research exploring the lived experience of women higher education…
Fear and Distress
Technology-facilitated abuse in relationships (TAR) is a relatively new form of intimate partner violence. Research exploring the impact of TAR on young people is limited, and while robust measures of TAR itself are emerging, measures of TAR impact lack evidence of validity. A mixed-methods approach was used to establish preliminary face and content validity for the measurement of TAR impact. Youth discussion groups (n = 38) revealed that (1) dis…
Identifying and Responding to Intimate Partner Violence in Australian Refugee Settlement Services
Developing a Research Agenda with Victim-Survivors to Improve Health Sector Responses to Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence in Australia
Purpose The World Health Organisation acknowledges the health sector as playing a key role in responding to those who experience and use domestic, family and sexual violence. Limited resources need to be well spent to ensure the best outcomes for victim-survivors and their families. This study was undertaken to explore : What do victim-survivors, researchers and practitioners see as the key research priorities for improving health sector response…
A Chance to have a Voice
Purpose Having individuals with lived experience as co-researchers collaborate in research has increasingly become recognized as empowering for those involved and necessary for translational research. However, there has been limited exploration of how lived experience involvement as co-researchers in design, implementation and dissemination is experienced by those undertaking these influential roles. This study aimed to explore victim-survivors’ …
Health Care Providers Views on Identifying and Responding to South Asian Women Experiencing Family Violence
Family violence (FV) is a universal public health problem in South Asia with negative-health outcomes for South Asian women. Health care providers (HCPs) play a pivotal role in identifying and supporting women experiencing FV, but little is known about their experiences with South Asian women. A systematic review was conducted to explore and address health care providers’ views on identification and response to South Asian women experiencing FV. …
Using digital storytelling with women who have experienced intimate partner abuse
Intimate partner abuse (IPA) is a pervasive issue affecting one in three women globally. Although understanding of IPA has increased over time, it is still lacking, and new ways of highlighting the experiences of victims/survivors are essential. This article draws on reflexive thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews from two research projects to examine the experiences of women who have experienced IPA and who participated in a digital st…
Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a healthy relationship tool for men who use intimate partner violence (Better MAN)
ACTRN12622000786796 with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: 2 June 2022. Version: 1 (28 September 2023)
Social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Aboriginal controlled social housing
This trial was retrospectively registered with the ISRCTN Register on the 12/7/21 with the study ID:ISRCTN33665735
Women's Experiences Accessing Mental Health Care in Australia After Sexual Violence in Adulthood
In Australia, at least one in every five women has experienced sexual violence since age 15. Research consistently links sexual violence with poor mental health, persisting long after the crisis period. Trauma-informed mental health support is therefore critical. This article draws on interviews with 29 women who had experienced sexual violence to understand their experiences accessing mental health services in Australia. Our findings suggest tha…
Timing of Physical and Emotional Intimate Partner Violence Exposure and Women's Health in an Australian Longitudinal Cohort Study
Drawing on data from a prospective pregnancy cohort ( N = 1,507), this study examines the relationship between exposure to physical and emotional intimate partner violence (IPV) across the first 10 years of motherhood and women's mental and physical health. A measure of IPV (Composite Abuse Scale) was included at 1, 4, and 10 years postpartum. Past year and prior experiences of IPV were associated with mental and physical health issues at 10 year…
Navigating the grey zone in the response to child abuse and neglect in primary healthcare settings
Child abuse and neglect (child abuse) is a common issue that leads to significant health issues. Given the association between child abuse and health, mandatory reporting laws for doctors and nurses were introduced in jurisdictions such as the US, Canada and Australia. However, this legislation is not globally or nationally consistent. Thus, there is confusion surrounding the definition of abuse that should be reported and how to respond when sus…
Women’s Lived Experiences of Reproductive Coercion and Abuse
Purpose Reproductive coercion and abuse (RCA) refers to the use of physical, psychological or sexual violence or coercive behaviours to control a woman’s reproductive choices. Perpetrators use various forms of RCA such as controlling the outcome of a pregnancy, contraceptive sabotage and pregnancy coercion. Current research has focused primarily on quantitative data and health interventions, yet there is limited qualitative research on the overal…
A Multidimensional Definition of Partner Abuse
From silence to sensitivity
Beyond Voice
Children who live in households where domestic violence is occurring have been variously described in the literature over time as silent witnesses, witnesses, a cohort who is 'exposed' to the violence, and more recently, as individual victim survivors and active agents in their own right, each with their own lived experience of violence. Research methodologies in this arena have shifted from adult-focused measurements of the impacts of domestic v…
Research Review
While there is a growing body of work on using fatherhood as an opportunity to engage men in strategies to prevent child maltreatment and further acts of domestic violence, there is limited research on engaging fathers in strategies to prevent domestic violence from occurring. To fill this gap in the literature, this paper explores existing father engagement frameworks used in child and family services and supports a multi‐level model of father e…
Resilience and depression
Resilience refers to the capacity for successful adaptation or change in the face of adversity. This concept has rarely been applied to the study of distress and depression. We propose two key elements of resilience - ordinary magic and personal medicine - which enable people to survive and flourish despite current experience of emotional distress. We investigate the extent to which these elements are considered important by a sample of 100 peopl…
Digital dating abuse perpetration and impact
Although measurement and prevalence of digital dating abuse (DDA) in young people’s relationships is of growing research interest, youth perceptions of the behaviours and the impact on victims are yet to be fully understood. This study explored thirty-eight (16–24 year old) youth’s perceptions of DDA behaviours and descriptors of the emotional impact of the behaviours on victims. A predominant theme of gender differences emerged, with five subthe…
Fractured Identity in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence has profound effects on women's identities. However, detailed examination of how abuse affects identity is lacking. We interviewed 14 diverse women (Australia), applying social identity theory to analyze their experiences of identity and help-seeking in health settings. The destabilizing effect of violence on social identities was strongly supported. Women concealed abuse to preserve a public identity. However, when the …
Engaging Men as Fathers
Despite claims of 'new' and 'involved' fathers, research shows men's actual fathering practices remain relatively unchanged. Increasing attention is being paid to the influence of child and family services on father engagement with calls from researchers and practitioners for a game change in parenting interventions. In this article, we draw on case study data to examine how gender impacts on maternal and child health services' engagement with ne…
Translating research about domestic and family violence into practice in Australia
The volume of research being conducted into domestic and family violence is increasing, yet knowledge translation in this area lags behind other fields such as healthcare. Little is known about how to effectively harness and implement research findings in the ‘real world’, and there continue to be barriers to the use of rigorous research to inform government policy. In this paper, we explore key areas where the translation of domestic and family …
A Chance to have a Voice
Purpose Having individuals with lived experience as co-researchers collaborate in research has increasingly become recognized as empowering for those involved and necessary for translational research. However, there has been limited exploration of how lived experience involvement as co-researchers in design, implementation and dissemination is experienced by those undertaking these influential roles. This study aimed to explore victim-survivors’ …
A Huge, Hidden Problem
Reproductive coercion is understood as behavior interfering with a woman's reproductive autonomy. It is usually perpetrated by a male partner, and sometimes by other family members. Reproductive coercion encompasses violence, threats, or coercion to force a woman to become or remain pregnant, or to terminate a pregnancy. To date, few studies have focused on this topic, particularly using qualitative methods. In this article, we aim to explore how…
What do Australian Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Abuse Want From Family and Friends
We analyzed the views of a diverse sample of women ( N = 254) living in the state of Victoria, Australia, who were experiencing fear of an intimate partner. We explored the women's views about their interactions with their family and friends to examine what women who have experienced fear of a partner or ex-partner want from their family and friends. The themes identified provide potentially useful guidance for what might be helpful and unhelpful…
A brief counselling intervention by health professionals utilising the ‘readiness to change’ concept for women experiencing intimate partner abuse
This paper describes a brief counselling intervention based on the ‘readiness to change’ concept for women experiencing intimate partner violence, and an educational program for training primary care health professionals in the delivery of such an intervention. We present a synthesis of the literature on the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour and the Psychosocial Readiness to Change Model as applied to intimate partner violence. We describe the …
Bringing men in from the margins
Although there is a growing body of international work on barriers to engaging fathers in child and family services, there is limited research on factors that promote father engagement. In this article, we draw on case study data from the Australian Baby Makes 3 (BM3) programme to explore factors that promote father engagement in parenting support programmes. Our analysis shows single‐gender group work supported father engagement. BM3's father gr…
Consistency and Inconsistency of Young Women’s Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence in a Population-Based Study
We examined reporting of lifetime intimate partner violence (IPV) among 7,917 young women who completed two surveys, 12 months apart. At the first survey, 32% reported a history of IPV with a current or former partner. Of these, one third of women did not report IPV 12 months later (inconsistently reported IPV). Compared with women who consistently reported a history of IPV, women who inconsistently reported a history of IPV were less likely to r…
Your behaviour has consequences”
Receiving care for intimate partner violence in primary care
Women's Experiences Accessing Mental Health Care in Australia After Sexual Violence in Adulthood
In Australia, at least one in every five women has experienced sexual violence since age 15. Research consistently links sexual violence with poor mental health, persisting long after the crisis period. Trauma-informed mental health support is therefore critical. This article draws on interviews with 29 women who had experienced sexual violence to understand their experiences accessing mental health services in Australia. Our findings suggest tha…
Timing of Physical and Emotional Intimate Partner Violence Exposure and Women's Health in an Australian Longitudinal Cohort Study
Drawing on data from a prospective pregnancy cohort ( N = 1,507), this study examines the relationship between exposure to physical and emotional intimate partner violence (IPV) across the first 10 years of motherhood and women's mental and physical health. A measure of IPV (Composite Abuse Scale) was included at 1, 4, and 10 years postpartum. Past year and prior experiences of IPV were associated with mental and physical health issues at 10 year…
Women’s Lived Experiences of Reproductive Coercion and Abuse
Purpose Reproductive coercion and abuse (RCA) refers to the use of physical, psychological or sexual violence or coercive behaviours to control a woman’s reproductive choices. Perpetrators use various forms of RCA such as controlling the outcome of a pregnancy, contraceptive sabotage and pregnancy coercion. Current research has focused primarily on quantitative data and health interventions, yet there is limited qualitative research on the overal…
Bringing together the Listening Guide and Moral Self-Definition for narrative analysis of older people's understanding of health-related decision-making
Identity and decision-making are interrelated concepts, but the relationship between them is complex particularly when an unwell person's ability to make decisions is compromised. In this article we discuss how moral self-definition (Nelson, 2001;Walker, 1987) can be used within a Listening Guide (LG) analysis to extend analysis of the temporal relationship between identity and decisions. In this project, the LG was used to analyze interviews exp…
The effect of strategies of personal resilience on depression recovery in an Australian cohort
Strategies of personal resilience enable successful adaptation in adversity. Among patients experiencing depression symptoms, we explored which personal resilience strategies they find most helpful and tested the hypothesis that use of these strategies improves depression recovery. We used interview and survey data from the Diagnosis, Management and Outcomes of Depression in Primary Care 2005 cohort of patients experiencing depression symptoms in…
Small wins
Gender inequity in leadership and management roles within the higher education sector remains a widespread problem. Researchers have suggested that a multi-pronged method is the preferred approach to reach and maintain gender equity over time. A large university faculty undertook an audit to gauge the level of gender equity on the senior decision-making committees. As a result, a gender equity initiative was launched throughout the faculty. Gende…
Beyond symptoms
An Innovative Method of Increasing Early Detection for Skin Cancer in Australia
Objective: To evaluate a family practice intervention to encourage patients to request a skin examination during their consultation. Methods: Family physicians in Queensland, Australia, were randomized to intervention or control groups. In the intervention group, materials were provided by the office receptionist and supported by the family physician. Results: The rate of full-body skin examination was 99.3/ 1000 consultations in intervention-gro…
A Multidimensional Definition of Partner Abuse
The Composite Abuse Scale
A brief counselling intervention by health professionals utilising the ‘readiness to change’ concept for women experiencing intimate partner abuse
This paper describes a brief counselling intervention based on the ‘readiness to change’ concept for women experiencing intimate partner violence, and an educational program for training primary care health professionals in the delivery of such an intervention. We present a synthesis of the literature on the Transtheoretical Model of Behaviour and the Psychosocial Readiness to Change Model as applied to intimate partner violence. We describe the …
Resilience and depression
Resilience refers to the capacity for successful adaptation or change in the face of adversity. This concept has rarely been applied to the study of distress and depression. We propose two key elements of resilience - ordinary magic and personal medicine - which enable people to survive and flourish despite current experience of emotional distress. We investigate the extent to which these elements are considered important by a sample of 100 peopl…
Mosaic (MOthers' Advocates In the Community)
ACTRN12607000010493
Women's evaluation of abuse and violence care in general practice
[ACTRN12608000032358]
Intimate Partner Violence During Pregnancy and the First Year Postpartum in an Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study
Mothers' AdvocateS In the Community (Mosaic)- non-professional mentor support to reduce intimate partner violence and depression in mothers
ACTRN12607000010493http://www.anzctr.org.au
Cost-Effectiveness of Health Care Interventions to Address Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence (IPV) creates a substantial burden of disease and significant costs to families, communities, and governments. Building the evidence for effective interventions to reduce violence and its sequelae requires increased use of economic evaluation to inform policy through the analysis of costs and potential savings of interventions. The authors review existing economic evaluations and present case studies of current research …
The prevention access and risk taking in young people (Party) project protocol
ISRCTN16059206
Enhanced maternal and child health nurse care for women experiencing intimate partner/family violence
ACTRN12609000424202
From silence to sensitivity
Beyond symptoms
What do Australian Women Experiencing Intimate Partner Abuse Want From Family and Friends
We analyzed the views of a diverse sample of women ( N = 254) living in the state of Victoria, Australia, who were experiencing fear of an intimate partner. We explored the women's views about their interactions with their family and friends to examine what women who have experienced fear of a partner or ex-partner want from their family and friends. The themes identified provide potentially useful guidance for what might be helpful and unhelpful…
The health-systems response to violence against women
Protocol for a randomised controlled trial of a web-based healthy relationship tool and safety decision aid for women experiencing domestic violence (I-Decide)
Trial registered on 15(th) December 2014 with the Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12614001306606
I-Decide
Research Review
While there is a growing body of work on using fatherhood as an opportunity to engage men in strategies to prevent child maltreatment and further acts of domestic violence, there is limited research on engaging fathers in strategies to prevent domestic violence from occurring. To fill this gap in the literature, this paper explores existing father engagement frameworks used in child and family services and supports a multi‐level model of father e…
Fractured Identity in the Context of Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate partner violence has profound effects on women's identities. However, detailed examination of how abuse affects identity is lacking. We interviewed 14 diverse women (Australia), applying social identity theory to analyze their experiences of identity and help-seeking in health settings. The destabilizing effect of violence on social identities was strongly supported. Women concealed abuse to preserve a public identity. However, when the …
The effect of strategies of personal resilience on depression recovery in an Australian cohort
Strategies of personal resilience enable successful adaptation in adversity. Among patients experiencing depression symptoms, we explored which personal resilience strategies they find most helpful and tested the hypothesis that use of these strategies improves depression recovery. We used interview and survey data from the Diagnosis, Management and Outcomes of Depression in Primary Care 2005 cohort of patients experiencing depression symptoms in…
Small wins
Gender inequity in leadership and management roles within the higher education sector remains a widespread problem. Researchers have suggested that a multi-pronged method is the preferred approach to reach and maintain gender equity over time. A large university faculty undertook an audit to gauge the level of gender equity on the senior decision-making committees. As a result, a gender equity initiative was launched throughout the faculty. Gende…
Development of a brief measure of intimate partner violence experiences
Objectives Approaches to measuring intimate partner violence (IPV) in populations often privilege physical violence, with poor assessment of other experiences. This has led to underestimating the scope and impact of IPV. The aim of this study was to develop a brief, reliable and valid self-report measure of IPV that adequately captures its complexity. Design Mixed-methods instrument development and psychometric testing to evolve a brief version o…
Translating research about domestic and family violence into practice in Australia
The volume of research being conducted into domestic and family violence is increasing, yet knowledge translation in this area lags behind other fields such as healthcare. Little is known about how to effectively harness and implement research findings in the ‘real world’, and there continue to be barriers to the use of rigorous research to inform government policy. In this paper, we explore key areas where the translation of domestic and family …
Receiving care for intimate partner violence in primary care
Medicine (66 works) · Intimate Partner and Family Violence (56 works) · Poison control (56 works) · Psychology (56 works) · Suicide prevention (50 works) · Domestic violence (49 works) · Nursing (34 works) · Environmental health (30 works) · Social Psychology (30 works) · Child Abuse and Trauma (29 works)