INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: PHYSICIAN STRATEGIES FOR SCREENING AND REFERRAL

Course overview

According to the most recent CDC findings: ?22.3% of women (nearly 1 in 4) and 14% of men (1 in 7) have experienced severe physical violence perpetrated by an intimate partner. ?19% of women (1 in 5) and 1.7% of men (1 in 59) have been raped in their lifetimes. ?15.2% of women (1 in 6) and 5.7% of men (1 in 19) have been stalked in their lifetimes. The first professional contact for people who experience intimate partner violence (also referred to as domestic violence) is likely to be a physician or other health-care provider. Studies of women who are abused found that they seek medical attention more frequently than non-abused women, even if they tend to hide the fact that they are victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). Often, the uncovering of victimized patients? stories may happen in stages. Many patients hold back from speaking about IPV at first, but continued relationship-building with their physicians may empower them to speak over time. A physician who comes to know that a patient is experiencing IPV is better able to understand the patient?s symptoms, better able to diagnose the patient?s problems, and better able to help improve the patient?s health outcomes. Also, using a process of validation, safety assessment, and referral, a physician may be able to help a victim improve his/her situation.