Promoting Success Through Collaborative Partnerships
Take the First Step44% of women murdered by an intimate partner had sought treatment from an emergency room within the two years prior to her death. A 2013 study from the MORE Magazine/Verizon Foundation found that 81% of women who experienced abuse also had a chronic illness or health condition and had regular contact with a health care provider but only 24% of respondents stated that their health care provider had ever asked about abuse.
While there is clearly an opportunity for healthcare providers to help victims access domestic violence services, there was no clear path for doing so. Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence and MayView Community Health Center sought to change that. Through the partnership developed in 2014, Next Door and MayView have created a seamless system of identification of victims followed by service-not just a referral to a shelter. In this way, victims do not have to retell their story multiple times, they can seek support where they already feel safe and supported. By viewing domestic violence as a health issue, healthcare providers can partner with patients to address the issue, much in the way they might partner up to obtain care for other pressing healthcare concerns.
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