Table 1 Content of the online program in order of appearance on the website

Pre-intervention questions

See Methods section

Research about abuse in health care

A short summary of studies about abuse in health care.

To provide a starting point and to legitimise the participants’ own experiences of abuse.

Participants’ experiences

Participants get the opportunity to write down their own experiences of abuse in health care.

To get participants to start thinking about abusive situations, and perhaps recall their own experiences. Also, to gather stories as research material for future studies.

Text scenarios

Two short scenarios constructed from real situations. Both cases end with a patient feeling terribly offended and embarrassed. Participants are then asked to imagine ending up in a similar situation and to think of things they, as patients, could do to protect themselves, find a way out of the situation, or turn the situation in a different direction. Participants are then asked to write down what possibilities they have identified.

To familiarise participants with the idea that there could be possibilities for them to act, as well as to let them think of different possibilities, and to increase their and our understanding of what can be abusive in health care settings.

Comics

Three scenarios in comic form constructed from real situations are shown. All three scenarios picture a story in about five frames, the last frame showing a patient feeling devastated, followed by the question, “What opportunities to act do you have as a patient?” On the next page, a few suggestions are shown in additional frames. After these suggestions, participants are asked to write down what other possibilities they have identified (see Fig. 1).

In addition to objectives similar to those of the text scenarios, the element of suggestions aimed to simulate possibilities provided by other participants, as done in Forum Play, and to stimulate participants to think in different directions. The visual aspect was assumed to bring stories and characters to life without excessive amounts of text and to provide a reality in which alternative consequences can be explored [39, 40].

Stories from earlier patients

Two short stories written by two female patients who had experienced abuse in different health care settings. These stories include details about the incidents and the patients’ own reflections upon what they did or could have done themselves in the situations they described.

To legitimise further feelings related to abuse that the participants may carry with them, and to offer some insights in how other patients reflect upon their actions in situations of abuse.

Staff stories

One short story written by a female health professional about an episode in which she was confronted by a patient who had felt abused and which led to changes in work routines.

To give an example of how a patient’s actions, in response to treatment that she experienced as abusive, had affected staff’s future routines (which may not always be visible to patients).

Post-intervention questions

See Methods section

Thank you

A link to a detailed summary of research about abuse in health care and a comprehensive overview of possibilities for patients who have experienced abuse in health care and wish to express grievances or file a complaint.

To give information for patients who are interested in the topic. Also, to give patients tools to deal with events that they thought of during the interventions.