Provider Screening and Counseling for Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review of Practices and Influencing Factors

Abstract

Introduction: Intimate partner violence is a serious public health concern in the United States. Despite recommendations that physicians should routinely screen their patients, research has shown that lack of specific training has resulted in many health care professionals feeling unable to adequately perform this difficult but vital task. Though many educational resources exist to teach intimate partner violence screening, they often lack specific guidance on how to navigate this difficult conversation. In addition, they often lack formal teaching on how to counsel and refer patients who are victims of intimate partner violence. Methods: This unique module, intended for a small-group setting of four to eight students, contains an intimate partner violence checklist with sample language that covers both screening and counseling using a motivational interviewing framework. Additional materials include a checklist companion for tips on how to navigate the conversation, two cases for role-play, a facilitator guide, and an objective structured clinical encounter case and assessment rubric. Results: This module was given to 260 second-year medical students at the Warren Alpert Medical School between 2015 and 2017 and was rated highly by almost 90% of students. Discussion: After completing this module, learners will be able to appropriately screen for intimate partner violence as well as counsel and refer patients who have screened positive. By implementing this module, educators can increase the number of health care professionals able to broach this difficult conversation with patients who may be in need of help and may otherwise go unaided.

IPV Screening and Readiness to Respond to IPV in Ob-Gyn Settings: A Patient-Physician Study

“…Consistent with these results, IPV screening among general physicians has been associated with prior IPV training/education, perceived knowledge, and perceived preparation [19,20]. We also found that the percentage of obgyns who endorsed screening all patients at annual exams was consistent with existing research [20].…”

“…We also found that the percentage of obgyns who endorsed screening all patients at annual exams was consistent with existing research [20]. However, both physician endorsement and patient-reported data suggest that ob-gyns are still more likely to screen for IPV during new patient visits than during subsequent visits.…”

“…The majority of ob-gyns were unaware of an IPV response protocol at their site. While this is in line with existing research [19,20], ob-gyn offices and practices should increase awareness of their protocols. Finally, in contrast to previous reports [22,26], gender was not related to IPV screening nor readiness to respond to IPV.…”

Describing the healthcare experiences and strategies of women survivors of violence

“…Participants in this study and others have emphasised the importance of providers knowing how to respond empathically to trauma disclosure. However, a recent systematic review on screening practices found that provider response to disclosure was only reported in two of 35 included studies (Alvarez, Fedock, Grace, & Campbell, ). The findings of the current study indicate that caring trauma history screening is especially important because patients who felt able to disclose their trauma histories to providers often also asked providers to tailor care in ways that met their needs.…”

Implementation of a Family Planning Clinic–Based Partner Violence and Reproductive Coercion Intervention: Provider and Patient Perspectives

“…Despite multiple calls for clinic‐based screening and interventions to identify and support women victimized by partner violence, screening rates remain low . Health providers’ discomfort in addressing this topic is often cited for this lack of uptake .…”