Impact of the Training Program⁴⁹

The critical importance of intervention training was documented by analyzing the participant evaluations (n=200) from the Family Violence: An Intervention Model for Dental Professionals curriculum. Results showed that the training made a significant, positive impact in teaching dental professionals how to identify and report cases of abuse. The training information about interventions and referrals for patients left dental personnel perceiving these actions as an extension of their practice. The entire training experience made the dental professionals more comfortable in discussing abuse issues with patients.⁵⁰ Training participants also shared anecdotal information with project staff that indicated participants no longer feared making mandated reports in suspected child and elder abuse cases because they knew how and what to report.⁵¹