The Health Care System has an important role in identifying and preventing public health problems and offers a unique opportunity to provide routine screening, early identification and even primary prevention of domestic abuse. The VCU National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health Domestic& Sexual Violence working group brings together key stakeholders to create initiatives, strategies and interventions to increase awareness and education by developing model responses to intimate partner violence in the health care setting and community.

Goals

• Establishing a working group of VCU medical and academic campus faculty, staff and community partners  
• Assessing the current domestic/sexual violence response, resources and need within the VCU health system
• Developing collaborative relationships with community domestic and sexual violence experts
• Creating a research team to promote multidisciplinary research efforts in this arena
• Discovering opportunities for submitting multi-disciplinary grant initiatives
• Utilize the evaluation instruments of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the recommendations of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations to promote compliance with proposed standards (JCAHO Standard PC.3.10 on victims of abuse)
• Develop:
• Routine site-specific screening, assessment and intervention plans.
• Health System Protocols for responding
• Training plans
• Resource materials for clinicians and patients - both print and online
• Quality assurance mechanisms

The working group currently meets bi-monthly.

For more information contact:

Janett Forte
804-327-8843
jforte@vcu.edu