Domestic Violence |
"Domestic violence, we are told, results in more treatment in hospital emergency rooms than any other single cause, including car crashes." Joseph Kinney |
Written by Lin Stone
| Joseph A. Kinney, an author, researcher, and pioneering manager who has received numerous national awards for his leadership and contributions to forging a safer world. ( Http://www.talewins.com/Kinney.htm ) illuminates the extent of domestic violence with these alarming statistics: "Each day about 50 men, women, and children are murdered in their homes, on America's streets, in workplaces, or various other locations across our beloved nation. During that same 24-hour period, hundreds of women --some who have yet to see their 10th birthday -- will be raped or suffer brutal beatings at the hands of often larger and more physically stronger males. "In about three days, 150 homicides will roughly equal the total number of deaths from an average airliner crash. Domestic violence, we are told, results in more treatment in hospital emergency rooms than any other single cause, including car crashes. It is not only physical violence that diminishes the Human Condition. There is also the emotional toll that arises from threats, fear, intimidation, and verbal abuse -- behaviors that injure the psyche of victims, ravishing their ability to trust and love other people well beyond the more immediate anguish, turmoil and grief associated with such incidents. Violence and aggression impose substantial costs, seen and unseen, long after the initial injury or incident." Nearly 47,000 domestic violence offenses were reported in the State of Michigan during the year 2000 according to the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center. 42 of those offenses resulted in death for the victims. Can anything be done to prevent these tragedies?Yes! Routine screening can play an important role in helping survivors of domestic violence. Between 1993 and 1998, after the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that physicians screen female patients for partner abuse, violence against women by their intimate partners declined by 21 percent, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Justice. |
Yes! For one thing individuals can get involved and make a tremendous
difference.
Caroline Young, owner of http://www.safetyforwomen.com helps victims
learn Safety and Self Defense Tricks for women. There is a Domestic
Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (TTY 1-800-787-3224). There
you can talk to a professional in complete confidence.
Caroline says "Each year 1 million women suffer nonfatal violence by an
intimate aggressor. 4 million American women experience a serious assault
by an intimate partner during an average 12-month period. Nearly 1 in 3
adult women experience at least one physical assault by a partner during
adulthood."
Earl H. Roberts, owner of insurance roundup, offers personal
protection articles to anyone visiting the web site at http://www.insuranceroundup.htm/protectyourself/
Articles there run the gamut of personal violence to national disasters.
Insurance companies quite often end up paying the expenses of this
violence. It is only natural that some of those companies will work at
alleviating the problem. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan,
( http://www.bcbsm.com ) is a nonprofit corporation that provides health
care benefits to 4.8 million members through a variety of plans –
Traditional, Blue Preferred and Community Blue PPOs, Blue Choice
Point of Service, and the Blue Care Network HMO.
The St. Joseph Mercy Hospital (SJMH) in Ann Arbor Michigan has
received an $18,350 grant from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan to
increase the number of emergency room patients who are routinely
screened for domestic violence.
"Our domestic violence initiative began in 1996," said Susan Kheder,
Director for Women and Children's Services at St. Joseph Mercy
Hospital, "and we are always looking for strategies to improve our
screening, identification and intervention efforts. Domestic violence is
considered a 'silent epidemic' in our country, and as health care
professionals, we believe we have a responsibility to help address
this issue proactively."
The new program's objectives will be:
- Train 10 "internal champions" who will work with Ann Arbor-based
Domestic Violence Project/Safe House to teach screening techniques
to hospital staff on all shifts.
- Provide patients in acute domestic violence situations immediate access
to advocates for safety, legal and mental health interventions by
strengthening collaboration with DVP/SH.
- Create an environment that promotes safety and increases patient
disclosure of violence by nurturing a culture that supports screening and
treatment.
Internal champions will be selected from SJMH staff members who believe
in the value of screening, who are committed to mentoring colleagues and
have high credibility among their peers. The internal champions will be
coached to be role models, to educate, motivate, support and respond to
the learning needs and real situations encountered by everyone on the
emergency department staff.
The St. Joseph Mercy Hospital was selected under a grant program that
invited area hospitals to submit funding proposals. "What really impressed
us was that St. Joseph Mercy Hospital will track and verify that patients
were asked screening questions," said Diana Jones, Michigan Blues vice
president of Community Affairs. "The hospital will then be able to compare
the new program to existing data, which shows current screening is less than
25 percent. It will be able to measure improvement."
Domestic violence prevention has been a part of the Michigan Blues'
Community Health Agenda since 1999. Blue Cross Blue Shield of
Michigan and Blue Care Network are nonprofit corporations and
independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
All of us can do something about violence in our communities.
All of us should.
the end
| Lin Stone is an author, writer, and photographer. His work appears on hundreds of web pages and most of it can be read for free. Read the latest work of Lin Stone for Free. |
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Your Medical Care can be more affordable, and more accessible. |
NOW is the time to share this information with every neighbor and form a neighborhood group that can help each other. Anarchy and riots could break out and law enforcement agencies may be operating sporadically if at all as we have witnessed in New Orleans.