Interdisciplinary health care and female victims of domestic violence

Victimization and Substance Abuse among Women: Contributing Factors, Interventions, and Implications

Although the literature indicates that there is an association of victimization with substance abuse, there has been limited research focused on understanding and synthesizing the factors that have been identified as contributing to victimization and substance abuse and on interventions designed to address these contributing factors. The purposes of this article are to (a) review the literature on factors related to victimization and substance abuse, (b) review interventions and outcomes, and (c) discuss clinical implications for interventions and research. Results suggest that there is a high rate of co-occurrence of victimization and substance abuse among women, that the factors contributing to victimization and substance abuse are complex, and that there is a lack of treatment models addressing victimization and substance abuse.

Culturally appropriate care for pregnant Latina women who are victims of domestic violence

Latina women who are pregnant and experiencing domestic violence face many barriers to accessing care and finding culturally appropriate services. These barriers are entwined in a complex web of social, cultural, economic, political, and legal issues. Leininger's cultural care model is presented as a framework to discuss culturally appropriate assessment of Latina women in various health care settings. Recommendations are made for the role of nurses in primary prevention interventions at the individual and community levels.

Prevalence of violence and its implications for women's health

This study estimates the lifetime prevalence of violent experiences and their relationship to health and the use of health services in U.S. women aged 18-64 years. The Commonwealth Fund's 1998 Survey of Women's Health provides a nationally representative sample. Use of weighted data allows projections to be made to the U.S. population. Over four of ten women in the U.S. are likely to have experienced one or more forms of violence, including child abuse (17.8%), physical assault (19.1%), rape (20.4%), and intimate partner violence (34.6%). In multivariate logistic regression models that control for sociodemographic characteristics, violence-particularly intimate sexual violence-is significantly related to poorer physical and mental health and increased problems with access to medical care. Only one-third of women who experience violence have discussed it with a physician. Health care professionals need to initiate the conversation about violence and offer referrals for needed services.

HIV/AIDS case management tasks and activities: the results of a functional analysis study

Functional analysis, a variation of the time study technique, was used to examine how HIV/AIDS case managers in the tri-county region of New York State spend their time-the actual tasks and activities they choose to perform relative to the total universe of activities and tasks subsumed in the general category of case management. The picture developed was of a system operating primarily in a crisis mode, spending relatively brief amounts of time completing a range of activities and providing an extensive scope of services for or on behalf of clients. The bulk of the work was client centered, not administrative, and involved providing disease management and essential services (e.g., family and mental health). The implications of these findings are discussed, with particular attention paid to the potential influence of client profiles and worker demographics.

Continuing Education About Physically Abusive Relationships: Does Education Change the Perceptions of Health Care Practitioners?

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study is to determine the effectiveness of mandatory continuing education for domestic violence.

METHOD

This study surveyed health care professionals attending the 1993 and 1997 National Perinatal Association Conference in Florida to determine change their awareness and identification of pregnant women involved in physically abusive relationships.

RESULTS

Even though in 1993 Florida initiated a mandatory 1-hour continuing education credit on domestic violence, the findings report that there were no statistically significant changes for awareness and identification. However, there was a statistically significant increase in the availability of patient education materials within the 4-year period.

CONCLUSION

Both the 1993 and 1997 respondents expressed a desire for more professional education related to domestic violence.