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Date: March 16, 1995
Contact:  PHS/AHCPR  (301) 594-1364
          Bob Griffin  ext. 169
          Paula Zeller ext. 148

Under terms of a three-year $985,000 federal grant, researchers at Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound will test a clinic-level, intensive educational campaign to help physicians and other members of primary health care teams recognize adult patient injuries and other medical conditions such as depression or chronic pain syndromes resulting from domestic violence. These patients are often reluctant to report domestic violence as the underlying cause of their problems.

The campaign will also focus on ways to improve the overall management of cases involving domestic violence.

In announcing the grant, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala said that domestic violence--spouse or partner abuse, and elder abuse -- is a public health priority. "Studies suggest that between 2 million and 4 million women are physically battered each year by their partners or former partners including husbands, former husbands and boyfriends."

The project, to be conducted at four Group Health outpatient clinics, is the result of the long-term collaboration between Robert S. Thompson, M.D., director of the department of preventive care at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound and the project's principal investigator, and Frederick P. Rivara, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center of the University of Washington. Group Health is a large health maintenance organization in Washington State and Idaho.

Special training for clinic staffs will be provided at only two of the clinics. The two other clinics, at which no special training will be provided, will serve as 'controls' to judge the effectiveness of the training and other interventions. Staff at all the clinics will be provided with protocols, or written directives, for use in managing cases of domestic violence.

Resources offered at the two clinics will include private telephones for use by patients who may need to speak in confidence with family members or others, and a project newsletter for clinic staff. Posters and brochures with information on preventing or coping with domestic violence will be displayed in the clinics' bathrooms and examination rooms. A social worker will be available, by pager, to assist in case management.

Changes in behavior by members of the clinic staff--including questions asked of patients at risk for domestic violence--as well as clinical outcomes of domestic violence cases will be measured by reviewing patient records both before and after interventions. The effects of the program on uncovering domestic violence both initially and on recurrences will be assessed.

The costs for implementing the domestic violence intervention program will be monitored and analyzed. Cost information derived from the project will be available to other health care providers for use in evaluating the financial feasibility of similar programs for their sites.