January 27, 2015
Dear Colleague,
A special issue of the Journal of Women’s Health, released on January 22, details how intimate partner violence (IPV) has a profound impact on the health of our nation’s women and girls. Such violence affects more than 1 in 3 women in the United States each year and can result in serious injury, death, or chronic health problems.
The January special issue of the Journal of Women’s Health features highlights from the 2013 Intimate Partner Violence Screening and Counseling Research Symposium. This symposium brought together researchers, medical practitioners, federal agency staff, and other stakeholders to inform gaps in research on screening and counseling for IPV in primary health care settings. Participants also identified priorities for future research.
IPV is a complex, highly fraught issue. Women who experience violence in their relationships understand this and so do the researchers, policymakers, and health care professionals working to address IPV. The work we have done collectively through the symposium and in this issue of the Journal of Women’s Health demonstrates how we are working together across disciplines to help survivors and families lead healthy lives in the wake of interpersonal violence.
The Affordable Care Act articulates a commitment to preventive services for women, and the Institute of Medicine and U.S. Preventive Services Task Force have recommended that IPV screening and counseling be a core part of women’s preventive health visits. Integrating intimate partner violence assessment and intervention into health care: a systems approach (Miller et al., 2015) makes the case that a focus on provider education or identification of IPV cases is not enough. Instead, a systems-based approach that includes training, evidence-based tools linked to electronic health records, and “warm referrals” that connect patients directly to service providers are key. The authors illustrate how the clinical space can transform into a place to build connections between survivors and support, services, and protection. Another key article discusses the link between IPV and drug and alcohol abuse. Weaver et al., highlights the association between IPV, HIV risk and risk behaviors and the high rate of HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STI) among women with co-occurring IPV and substance use/abuse disorder (SUD). The authors also note that despite substantial research indicating significantly higher rates of all types and severity of IPV victimization among women with substance use and substance disorders, effective screening and interventions to address these co-occurring problems remain limited. This article offers recommendations for scaling up targeted interventions to fix these co-occurring problems among women in primary, emergency, and other care settings. The articles can be found for free through March 31, 2015 at: http://online.liebertpub.com/d...0.1089/jwh.2014.4870
The NIH/National Library of Medicine’s (NLM) web portal at http://whr.nlm.nih.gov/ipv-symposium.html catalogues IPV resources from across the federal government. Available materials include the full video and scientific summary from the research symposium and complete slide presentations from speakers and moderators. Read more about IPV at www.womenshealth.gov/violence-against-women.
Health care providers are in a unique position: as trusted individuals in patients’ lives, they have the opportunity to connect one-on-one in a safe place with women experiencing or recovering from IPV. If health care providers lead a comprehensive public health response to domestic violence within their practices, we can improve health outcomes and make a difference for families impacted by violence.
Sincerely,
/Nancy C. Lee/
Nancy C. Lee, MD
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health-Women's Health
Director, Office on Women's Health
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