A Concept Analysis of the Help-Seeking Journey Among Domestic Violence Survivors.

The concept of help-seeking has been widely used across health disciplines to describe individuals' efforts to access care, yet its meaning remains inconsistent, particularly in the context of domestic violence. Survivors of intimate partner violence often experience multiple barriers in seeking help, with research showing that, on average, seven attempts are made before leaving an abusive relationship. Clarifying the help-seeking journey is therefore critical to understanding survivors' vulnerability and informing supportive nursing practice. This concept analysis applied Walker and Avant method, drawing on an extensive review of the literature, to identify the defining attributes, antecedents, consequences, and empirical referents of the help-seeking journey. Findings indicate that the help-seeking journey is a dynamic and continuous process in which individuals recognize a problem, define it as requiring outside assistance, and engage in interpersonal interaction with selected sources of care, including health professionals, to enhance safety and mental well-being. By offering an operational definition of the help-seeking journey, this analysis provides a foundation for theory development, research, and practice. The clarified concept can guide psychiatric and mental health nurses in recognizing barriers, facilitating trauma-informed interventions, and shaping policies that promote timely and effective help-seeking among survivors of domestic violence.