A survey of mental health professionals' knowledge, attitudes and preparedness to respond to domestic violence

Abstract

Background

A high proportion of psychiatric service users experience domestic violence, yet most cases remain undetected by clinicians.

Aims

This study aimed to assess mental health professionals' knowledge, attitudes and preparedness to respond to domestic violence.

Method

Information was collected on psychiatrists' and psychiatric nurses' knowledge, attitudes and preparedness towards the assessment of domestic violence, using an adapted Physician Readiness to Measure Intimate Partner Violence Survey.

Results

One hundred and thirty-one professionals were surveyed. Only 20 (15%) professionals routinely asked all service users about domestic violence and just 36 (27%) provided information to service users following disclosure. Most professionals (60%) felt that they lacked adequate knowledge of support services, and 27% felt that their workplace did not have adequate referral resources for domestic violence. Nurses reported greater readiness to assess and manage domestic violence than psychiatrists (p < 0.001), despite psychiatrists reporting greater overall knowledge (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Mental health professionals need to have clear referral pathways for service users who experience domestic violence, and to receive training on enhancing their knowledge and competencies to address domestic violence.

Keywords:

• domestic violence
• mental health services
• knowledge
• attitudes

Acknowledgement

LMH and GF are members of the WHO Guideline Development Group on Violence Against Women and NICE/SCIE Guideline Development Group on Preventing and Reducing Domestic Violence. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.

Declaration of Interest: KT and SN declare no competing interests. This paper presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme (Grant Reference Number: PB-PG-0906-11026).