Chain pharmacists' attitudes on and awareness of domestic abuse

Preparing Pharmacists to Care for Patients Exposed to Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious, highly prevalent public health problem associated with poor health outcomes, negative impacts on medication behavior, and increased health care utilization and costs. Pharmacists, the most accessible health care providers, are the only provider group not required to be trained on this topic. Training can prepare pharmacists to safely and appropriately care for patients experiencing IPV. This project evaluated a pharmacy-specific continuing professional development module on IPV utilizing a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest study design. Practicing community pharmacists were recruited from a market research panel to complete the online module. A novel method for managing IPV disclosures, the Care, Assess for safety, Refer, and Document (CARD) method, was included in the training. A total of 36 pharmacists completed the study, including a three-month follow-up assessment. Participants reported increased perceived preparedness and knowledge, workplace and self-efficacy, staff preparation, and legal requirements, but not actual knowledge. Practice changes, including identification of legal reporting requirements (19.4%) and development of protocols for managing IPV disclosures (13.9%), were reported at follow-up. This is the first examination of an educational module on the topic of IPV for pharmacists and it positively impacted pharmacists' preparedness and practice behaviors related to IPV over an extended follow-up period.

Facilitating Intimate Partner Violence Education among Pharmacy Students: What Do Future Pharmacists Want to Know?

This paper describes the first step toward creating training tools to improve pharmacy students' and pharmacists' ability to identify intimate partner violence (IPV) among patients and facilitate referrals. The paper's objectives are to evaluate an IPV didactic session adapted for pharmacy students and describe student quantitative and qualitative feedback on the session. Almost 90% of students believed IPV was relevant to their pharmacy careers and that the session improved their ability to recognize IPV. Twenty one percent believed they had encountered a patient they suspected was a victim of IPV. Legal and liability issues, course logistics, skill development, greater specificity and student engagement were themes that emerged. Greater specificity toward pharmacy was recommended to understand the intricacies of legal and professional responsibilities, patient and personal safety risks, and maintaining strong provider/patient relationships. To overcome barriers to screening, assessment and referral, students need opportunities to engage in role-playing and practical application of the knowledge gained.

Does the health status of intimate partner violence victims warrant pharmacies as portals for public health promotion?

OBJECTIVES

To explore whether the health status of intimate partner violence (IPV) victims warrants pharmacies to be portals for public health promotion. Specific objectives included (1) identifying prevalence of IPV including domestic violence (DV) and sexual assault (SA) in a community sample, (2) describing characteristics and correlates of DV/SA between participants who reported and did not report DV/SA, and (3) exploring whether DV/SA status is related to mental health medication use.

DESIGN

Cross sectional.

SETTING

Upstate New York during 2006.

PARTICIPANTS

English- and Spanish-speaking respondents younger than 65 years of age answering four questions to assess DV/SA.

INTERVENTION

Secondary analysis of a countywide random telephone survey, the 2006 Monroe County Adult Health Survey, which collects prevalence data on health behaviors and health status indicators.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

To determine whether those reporting DV/SA are at increased odds for mental health medication use, controlling for other sociodemographic- and health-related variables.

RESULTS

The survey response rate was 30.3%, with 1,881 respondents meeting inclusion criteria. Those reporting DV/SA were almost twice as likely to use mental health medications. However, when controlling for other variables, only poor mental and physical health were significant in increasing the odds of mental health medication use.

CONCLUSION

The analyses reported here suggest that DV/SA victims in a community sample use mental health medications. When controlling for other variables, survey respondents reported worse physical and mental health. If pharmacies are suitable portals for DV/SA outreach, curricula would need to provide the knowledge and skills needed to take an active role in this public health promotion.