Safe Discharge Needs Following Emergency Care for Intimate Partner Violence, Sexual Assault, and Sex Trafficking

Overview

Journal West J Emerg Med

Specialty Emergency Medicine

Date 2023 Jun 6

PMID 37278786

Authors

Michael J Clery

Eudora Olsen

Hannah Marcovitch

Harrison Goodall

Jasmine Gentry

Matthew A Wheatley

Nichelle Jackson

Dabney P Evans

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: For survivors of gender-based violence (GBV) seeking care in hospital emergency departments (ED) the need for medical care and safe discharge is acute.

Methods: In this study we evaluated safe discharge needs of GBV survivors following hospital-based care at a public hospital in Atlanta, GA, in 2019 and between April 1, 2020-September 30, 2021, using both retrospective chart review and evaluation of a novel clinical observation protocol for safe discharge planning.

Results: Of 245 unique encounters, only 60% of patients experiencing intimate partner violence (IPV) were discharged with a safe plan and only 6% were discharged to shelters. This hospital instituted an ED observation unit (EDOU) to support GBV survivors with safe disposition. Then, through the EDOU protocol, 70.7% were able to achieve safe disposition, with 33% discharged to a family/friend and 31% discharged to a shelter.

Conclusion: Safe disposition following experience or disclosure of IPV and GBV in the ED is difficult, and social work staff have limited bandwidth to assist with navigation of accessing community-based resources. Through an average 24.3 hours of an extended ED observation protocol, 70% of patients were able to achieve a safe disposition. The EDOU supportive protocol substantially increased the proportion of the GBV survivors who experienced a safe discharge.

Citing Articles

"And then the person sort of just drops off the radar…": barriers in the transition from hospital to community-based care among survivors of intimate partner violence in Metropolitan Atlanta.

Evans D, Pawcio J, Wyckoff K, Wilkers L Front Public Health. 2024; 12:1332779.

PMID: 38841664 PMC: 11150547. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1332779.

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