What Do Medical Providers Need to Successfully Intervene with Intimate Partner Violence?

ABSTRACT

Increasingly, medical providers (physicians and mid-level providers) rely on research evidence to inform their medical practice. In order for medical providers to accept their role in diagnosing and intervening with IPV, they need clinical tools and institutional support. This paper explores the tools (prevalence rates, screening questions, intervention strategies) and support (educational, institutional, professional, research) needed to assist medical providers in successfully intervening with IPV. It also looks at the importance of guidelines and expert consensus panel statements to help establish best clinical practices when direct research evidence is lacking or conflicting.

Key Words:

• Intimate partner violence
• physicians
• medical providers
• intervention
• research
• evidence-based medicine