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VHA Primary Care Providers’ Perspectives on Screening Female Veterans for Intimate Partner Violence: A Preliminary Assessment

  • RESPONSES TO INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE
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Abstract

Female Veterans experience intimate partner violence (IPV) at alarming rates. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) requires foundational research to guide the development of policy and programs to detect IPV among women Veterans and provide interventions. This pilot study reports findings from in-depth qualitative interviews conducted with 12 VHA primary care providers treating female Veterans in the New England region. Although most providers indicated that they were not currently routinely screening for IPV, they expressed positive attitudes and beliefs about screening in VHA primary care settings. Themes also included the importance of a comprehensive health care response to IPV, such as interdisciplinary coordination of care and team-based approaches to detection and intervention. Barriers to routine screening were identified, as well as recommendations for training programs and clinical tools to inform the successful implementation of a standardized IPV screening and response program in VHA. Although preliminary, these findings represent an initial step in an essential line of research.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Lynne Stevens Research Award from the Department of Family Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine awarded to Dr. Katherine Iverson. This work was also supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development Service as part of Dr. Iverson’s Career Development Award (CDA 10–029) at the VA Boston Healthcare System. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The authors are grateful to Dr. April Gerlock for her consultation on the interview guide, as well as the dedicated providers who participated in this study and all those who care for women Veterans.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Katherine M. Iverson & Shannon Wiltsey-Stirman

  2. Women’s Health Sciences Division of the National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System, 150 S. Huntington Ave. (116B-3), Boston, MA, 02130, USA

    Katherine M. Iverson, Stephanie Y. Wells & Rachel Vaughn

  3. VA Boston Healthcare System and Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA

    Megan R. Gerber

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  1. Katherine M. Iverson
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  2. Stephanie Y. Wells
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  3. Shannon Wiltsey-Stirman
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  4. Rachel Vaughn
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  5. Megan R. Gerber
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Correspondence to Katherine M. Iverson.

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Iverson, K.M., Wells, S.Y., Wiltsey-Stirman, S. et al. VHA Primary Care Providers’ Perspectives on Screening Female Veterans for Intimate Partner Violence: A Preliminary Assessment. J Fam Viol 28, 823–831 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10896-013-9544-7

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