Physicians who compassionately ask patients if they are being physically abused can provide the first step in helping battered victims get the help they need, according to a UC San Francisco study.

The study looked at techniques physicians used to identify victims of domestic violence. It found that compassionate asking--not necessarily getting a yes or no answer immediately--can help domestic violence victims find a way out of their situations.

"A yes response from a patient should not be the goal of the physician because there are so many reasons for a victim not to disclose the information," said Barbara Gerbert, PhD, UCSF professor and chair of the division of behavioral sciences, department of dental public health and hygiene in the UCSF School of Dentistry. "And it's frustrating for physicians if the goal is to get a yes answer. So what we found from these successful physicians is that they realized that it's their job to ask in a validating way that's non- judgmental and gentle, and in a way that let's the woman tell her story if she wants to."

This process, Gerbert said, can plant a seed in victims.

"In a previous study we had done with survivors of domestic violence, we found that they remembered physicians asking in a gentle way and often held that with them," Gerbert said. "They found it useful in helping them move toward safety."

The study, published in the October 19 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, described some of the barriers physicians face in identifying victims of domestic violence, such as a reluctance on the victim's part to disclose this kind of information because she feels afraid or ashamed. "That's another reason asking in a non-judgemental way is helpful." Gerbert said "For physician to ask and say 'no one deserves to be hit' is an empowering statement."

Gerbert and co-researchers interviewed 45 physicians in the San Francisco Bay Area who had expertise in identifying victims of domestic violence.
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Contact: Lordelyn del Rosario
ldelrosario@pubaff.ucsf.edu
415-476-2557
University of California - San Francisco
18-Oct-1999