Dealing with victims of domestic violence

The recognition of victims of violence and their treatment in medical facilities is a subject which has been covered for several years in a number of ways. In medicine and in other disciplines, the focus of research, publication, and practical work has been on the quality of care provided. Guidelines for the treatment of victims of violence have been developed and needs have been assessed. These examples show there is an abundance of knowledge on the subject. Nevertheless, the transfer of this knowledge into the everyday practice of medicine at hospitals and doctors' offices is clearly still not functioning in an optimal way and faces a wide range of hurdles and stumbling blocks. Based on the experience gained in a pilot project involving the medical intervention in doctors' offices against violence perpetuated against women (Project MIGG, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Family, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ)), approaches for the optimal treatment of victims of violence in outpatient medical facilities are presented. The key steps to achieving the goal of optimal treatment are: (i) the entire practice team commits to establishing a victim-centered approach to care and (ii) the necessary processes and structures are implemented (i.e., adequate documentation in patient records, patient information is made available in the doctor's office, information on post-treatment services and sources of support in the region are provided, contact is maintained with such institutions, and programs of further education are offered). This paper provides a catalogue of keywords with an overview illustrating how to optimize practice management to deal with cases of domestic violence. In addition, various areas of work are described, such the special requirements involving the collection of evidence.