Addressing Intimate Partner Violence at Ravenswood Family Health Center: Policy, Protocol and Awareness Campaign

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a pattern of coercive behavior that includes physical, sexual, verbal, emotional, and/or psychological abuse perpetrated by a current or former partner. More than 1 in 3 women and more than 1 in 4 men in the U.S. will experience IPV in their lifetime and many will suffer from chronic health problems as a result. Thus, healthcare providers are in a unique position to identify and assist victims of IPV. A needs assessment conducted at Ravenswood Family Health Center (RFHC) in 2012 indicated that 87% of staff surveyed believed that screening for IPV is important; however, only 46% felt prepared to screen. When providers were asked how often they screen, 65% reported rarely or never screening. In response to these results, RFHC has opted to use a systems-model approach to address IPV, which includes five key components: 1) clinician inquiry and referral 2) supportive environment 3) on-site IPV services 4) linkages to community resources 5) leadership and oversight. During this phase of the project, the clinician inquiry and referral component was addressed by developing a policy, protocol, and workflow that includes information on how to screen, respond to a disclosure, assist and refer victims, report incidents to law enforcement, and document screening results. The protocol and workflow were evaluated and refined using PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycles.The supportive environment component was addressed by a clinic-wide IPV awareness campaign. These efforts will serve as the foundation for future staff training and clinic-wide implementation of IPV screening at RFHC.