Family and Domestic Violence
Family and domestic violence (FDV) is a widespread and serious public health issue that affects people across all ages, genders, cultures and communities. It often involves patterns of coercive control, psychological abuse and non-physical harm, and may remain hidden or unrecognised in acute healthcare settings despite its significant impacts on physical health, mental wellbeing and safety.
This module provides an overview of FDV, with a focus on recognising its signs, understanding its impacts, and supporting safe, trauma-informed and appropriate responses within acute healthcare settings.
Content
What you'll learn:
Identify the prevalence, indicators and risk factors of FDV, including the types of non-physical forms of abuse.
Recognise the impact of FDV on patient wellbeing, behaviour and engagement with healthcare services.
Apply safe, trauma-informed screening and sensitive enquiry approaches to identify FDV and assess risk.
Respond appropriately to FDV disclosures by following referral pathways, working within scope of practice and recognising the importance of self-care.
Who it's for:
This module is designed for healthcare professionals working in acute, emergency or mental health settings who aim to enhance their knowledge and understanding of family and domestic violence (FDV), in order to improve recognition, sensitive enquiry and early support for patients experiencing or at risk of FDV.
Why it's needed:
Based on the 2021–22 Personal Safety Survey, 1 in 5 (20%) adults in Australia have experienced FDV since the age of 15. FDV is more common among women than men, with over 1 in 4 women (27% or 2.7 million) and over 1 in 8 men (12% or 1.1 million) reporting experiences of FDV. Many patients accessing mental health and acute care services have a lived experience of FDV, yet screening is inconsistent, and a significant number of patients report wanting to disclose but not feeling comfortable to do so.
Many healthcare professionals are unfamiliar with the signs, risk factors and trauma-related presentations of FDV, as well as best-practice approaches to screening, sensitive enquiry and referral.
Therefore, this module aims to enhance healthcare professionals’ knowledge of FDV, focusing on recognition, sensitive enquiry, risk assessment and appropriate referral, to support safer, trauma-informed care and improved outcomes for patients experiencing or at risk of FDV.
Purpose:
The purpose of this module is to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge needed to understand FDV, enabling timely recognition, sensitive enquiry, risk assessment and appropriate referral to support those experiencing or at risk of FDV.
Topics
Assign mandatory training and keep all your records in-one-place.
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