Objectives: This study examines what women who have experienced intimate partner violence would advise health care providers about asking about intimate partner violence in the health care settings.
Methods: Five focus groups were conducted with women in shelters and/or domestic violence support groups in North Carolina. Two investigators coded the transcripts separately then compared their coding.. Using the final coding scheme, the investigators reviewed the transcripts to identify emerging themes.
Results: The women reported that they would respond more favorably to questions about intimate partner violence if such questioning is done as a normal part of the medical history and/or within a context of the provider's concern for her well-being and safety. They also mentioned that providers need to understand that women often deny intimate partner violence until they are ready to disclose. Because of this, they advised that health care providers to provide information about and resources for intimate partner violence to all women regardless of whether they disclose violence.
Importance: A better understanding about how women who have experienced intimate partner violence prefer health care providers to address the topic will assist in developing more effective and more appropriate methods of screening and intervention.
Learning Objectives: 1) Recognize how women who experience partner violence want health care providers to address the topic of intimate partner violence. 2) Identify methods of addressing intimate partner violence in health care settings to which women who experience violence may respond more favorably.
Keywords: Domestic Violence, Screening
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
Disclosure not received
Relationship: Not Received.