We Believe:

Domestic violence is a crime.

Safety for victims of domestic abuse and their children must be a priority.

Changes in traditional services, including medical care, are needed to meet the needs of abused women. Among these changes is a need for increased awareness on the part of the primary care and Emergency Department physician.

This aspect of the ACUTE CARE, INC. web site is intended to advance that important effort.

A physician may be the first non-family member to whom an abused person turns for help. Therefore, that physician has a unique opportunity and responsibility to intervene. Battered persons often present with repeated injuries, medical complaints, and mental health problems, all of which result from living in an abusive relationship.

Physicians in all practice setting routinely see the consequences of violence and abuse, but often fail to acknowledge their violent etiologies. By recognizing and treating the effects of domestic violence, and by providing referrals for shelter, counseling and advocacy, physicians can help battered individuals regain control of their lives.

Our Goals for this Section of the Site:

Familiarize the visitor with the magnitude of the problem.

Describe how the visitor can identify abuse and violence through routine screening and recognition of clinical presentations.

Help the visitor learn to assess the impact of abuse on your patients' health and well-being.

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A Continuing Education Program

From the American Medical Women's Organization: This course has been developed by the American Medical Women's Association based on the manuals of the Family Violence Prevention Fund. The course director is Marjorie Braude, M.D., co-director is Peggy Goodman, M.D., with Carole Warshaw, M.D., as consultant. This course will cover the basic knowledge of domestic violence required for a clinician to recognize, treat, and prevent violence from an intimate. The course will be divided into units, each one covering a necessary and important part of the information necessary for the clinician to have a basic understanding of domestic violence. Together, the units can be taken for continuing medical education (CME) credit using the post test associated with each unit. Successful completion of the eight unit post tests will result in acquisition of two CME credits.

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This page will be continually updated. You can expect to find:

A Linked List of Internet Resources

"Intervention Directed at Providers Improves Identification of Domestic Violence"

Medscape: Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in Primary Care Practice

Institute for Clinical System Improvement evidence-based guideline: Domestic Violence (Adobe Acrobat format)

National Library of Medicine. Domestic Violence Assessment by Health Care Practitioners.

The Role of Patient Autonomy and Consent in the Emergency Department

Domestic Violence Against Women: Incidence and Prevalence in an Emergency Department Population

Adult Victims of Domestic Violence Treated in the Emergency Department: A Multi - Disciplinary Intervention Model.

U.S. Department of Agriculture. Safety, Health and Employee Welfare Division: Domestic Violence Awareness Handbook

Myths And Facts About Domestic Violence

Contemporary OB/GYN Detection and treatment of domestic violence

The American College of Emergency Physicians' (ACEP) web site includes several excellent resources:

• Facts: Domestic Violence
• Domestic Violence: How To Help The Victims
• Policy Statement: Emergency Medicine and Domestic Violence
• Campaign Against Domestic Violence
• Download CADV material (ZIP file )
  • Introduction (MS Word document )
  • DV Screening Slides (PowerPoint presentation )
  • Sample Questions and Answers (MS Word document )
  • Pocket card (MS Word document )
  • Stickers for the chart designed to be printed on Avery 5160 White Address Labels (1" x 2 5/8") (MS Word document )
  • Chart stamp (MS Word document )

Current Research

• The effect of written informed consent on detection of violence in the home
  Studies of programmatic interventions for victims of violence in the home may require the use of informed consent. The use of informed consent may result in ascertainment bias, with victims of violence being less likely to participate. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of written informed consent on the detection of violence in the home during emergency department (ED) screening.
• Risk factors for injury to women from domestic violence against women
  Domestic violence is the most common cause of nonfatal injury to women in the United States. To identify risk factors for such injuries, we examined the socioeconomic and behavioral characteristics of women who were victims of domestic violence and the men who injured them.
  

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Revised: December 21, 2001

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