Domestic violence against women and the impact of routine screening in a hospital emergency department

Abstract

This research project aimed to determine the impact of routine screening on the frequency of domestic violence detection in a hospital adult emergency department. The research was guided by a Single System A B research design and Quasi-Experimental Non-Equivalent Comparison Group design. Evaluative criteria developed by researchers Stark, Flitcraft and Frazier (1979), was used to identify patterns in domestic violence documentation from both periods of this study, in order to determine if detection of domestic violence had increased with the introduction of routine screening in the second period. Tick sheets completed by emergency staff in the B, or screening phase, documented patient responses to screening, as well as barriers perceived to prohibit screening. Requests for referral from the Emergency department to the hospital Social Work department were totalled in a period preceeding routine screening, and during the screening period. As well, findings from this study were compared with findings from a similar study of routine screening conducted out of a Vancouver hospital emergency department (Grunfeld, Ritmiller, Mackay, Cowan & Hotch, 1994). (Abstract shortened by UMI.)