The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #48316

M. Patricia West, MSSW, Public Heatlh Consultation, 2134 Spring St., Philadelphia, PA 19103, 215-568-7811, westvernon@cs.com, Mary A. Harkins-Schwarz, MPH, Research and Evaluation Department, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation (PHMC), 260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102, and Caroline G. West, MA, MPAff, Research and Evaluation, Philadelphia Health Management Corporation, 260 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102.

As child death review participants, we expect to see clear connections between intimate partner violence and child deaths. However, not all communities can identify those connections. In Philadelphia, we have begun to make the connection more clear through coordination between Philadelphia Interdisciplinary Youth Fatality Review Team (PIYFRT) and the Philadelphia Women's Death Review Team (WDRT). Both teams use a public health-focused process to select and review deaths. Both teams review deaths through team meetings where information is shared, and data collected about the decedent, decedent's history, circumstances of the death, and when relevant, information about the perpetrator. The WDRT selects deaths of women aged 15 - 60, Philadelphia residents, through a clinical screening committee. About 30% of the total are referred to the full team for a retrospective systematic review about a year after the death. Approximately 65% of the referred cases are known to Team members. Deaths referred to the full team include: homicides, suicides, drug overdoses, undetermined and deaths which appear to be result of long history of substance abuse or HIV, and inadequate death certificates. PIYFRT reviews all deaths among Philadelphia residents birth through 19 years. Ultimately, both teams’ data are used to identify patterns and trends in deaths, define preventable deaths, and to formulate policy/practice recommendations to improve the systems that serve and protect women and their children. The opportunity to understand connections of violence and abuse against women and the impact on their children will only be clear with this kind of connection.

Learning Objectives: The objectives of this presentation are

• to report on the process and findings from the linkages between the child death review and the women’s death review,
• examine the similarities and differences in mission and goals, and
• to discuss outcomes from these linkages

Keywords: Collaboration, Family Violence

Related Web page: www.phila.gov/health/units/decywh/pdf/report98.pdf

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.