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Domestic violence shelters present a unique context within the congregate living sector in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Shelters supporting women during the pandemic had to change service delivery models to include housing women in hotels to adhere to government restrictions and ensure women, and their children, were not homeless. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of hotel use as alternative housing for women experiencing domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada. We used interpretive description methodology, including in-depth interviews with 8 women using shelter services, 26 shelter workers and 5 focus groups with 24 executive directors of women's shelters and other organizations who serve women who have experienced domestic violence. We identified and explored three main tensions in housing women at hotels compared to shelters: 1) autonomy/independence versus support, 2) a better option, the only option, and/or a safety concern, and 3) adequacy of hotels as housing. Drawbacks and benefits of the use of hotels as housing for women in the context of domestic violence are explored and recommendations are highlighted.

Government departments and not-for-profit agencies expend significant resources commissioning and conducting research, only to find their resulting lengthy reports shelved and unused. In this case study, we describe a project that developed short, policy-relevant research summaries of topics prioritized by the Ontario Women's Health Council, an advisory body to the province's Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. These products were created based on an understanding of policy makers' needs and work contexts and were designed to help users find, understand and utilize research evidence to inform their clinical, programmatic and policy decision-making.

COVID-19 illustrated what governments can do to mobilise against a global threat. Despite the strong governmental response to COVID-19 in Canada, another 'pandemic', gender-based violence (GBV), has been causing grave harm with generally insufficient policy responses. Using interpretive description methodology, 26 interviews were conducted with shelter staff and 5 focus groups with 24 executive directors (EDs) from GBV service organizations in Ontario, Canada. Five main themes were identified and explored, namely that: (1) there are in fact four pandemics at play; (2) the interplay of pandemics amplified existing systemic weaknesses; (3) the key role of informal partnerships and community support, (4) temporary changes in patterns of funding allocation; and (5) exhaustion as a consequence of addressing multiple and concurrent pandemics. Implications and recommendations for researchers, policy makers, and the GBV sector are discussed.

BACKGROUND: Violence against women (VAW) is a major public health problem that grew worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. While all services were impacted by changing pandemic guidance, VAW shelters, as congregate settings with multiple funders and regulators, faced unique challenges. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative analysis of interviews with 26 women's shelter staff and eight women accessing care, as well as 10 focus groups (five each at two time points approximately a year apart) involving 24 leaders from VAW and related services in Ontario, Canada. RESULTS: We identified eight overlapping themes specific to government and public health COVID-19 regulations and their application in women's shelters. Overall, inconsistency or lack of clarity in rules, and how they were communicated, caused significant stress for women using, and staff providing, services. Staff and leaders were very concerned about rules that isolated women or replicated other aspects of abusive relationships. Women wanted to understand what options were available and what was expected of them and their children in these spaces. Leaders sought clarity and consistency from their various government funders, and from public health authorities, in the face of ever-evolving directives. As in the broader public, there was often the perception that the rules did not apply equally to everyone, for example, for women of colour using VAW services, or those whose first language was not English. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of consistent pandemic guidance and how to implement it, many VAW services devised tailored solutions to balance safety from COVID-19 with women's physical and emotional safety from abuse and its impacts. However, this was difficult and exhausting. A key policy implication is that women's shelters are a distinct form of congregate housing; they are very different in terms of services provided, size, type and age of facilities from other congregate settings and this must be reflected in public health directives. Better communication ...

COVID-19 illustrated what governments can do to mobilise against a global threat. Despite the strong governmental response to COVID-19 in Canada, another 'pandemic', gender-based violence (GBV), has been causing grave harm with generally insufficient policy responses. Using interpretive description methodology, 26 interviews were conducted with shelter staff and 5 focus groups with 24 executive directors (EDs) from GBV service organizations in Ontario, Canada. Five main themes were identified and explored, namely that: (1) there are in fact four pandemics at play; (2) the interplay of pandemics amplified existing systemic weaknesses; (3) the key role of informal partnerships and community support, (4) temporary changes in patterns of funding allocation; and (5) exhaustion as a consequence of addressing multiple and concurrent pandemics. Implications and recommendations for researchers, policy makers, and the GBV sector are discussed.