With the interesting conversation about toluidine blue dye use going on over at the IAFN community site, a quick reminder, we have a clinical guide on that topic here at FHO. There seems to be some disagreements about where it can be used, however, so click through for excerpts from the peer-reviewed literature that may help provide guidance:
Category: Sexual Assault
If, like me, you didn’t have the opportunity to travel to LA last month for the National Sexual Assault Conference (and I’m beyond excited that in 2016 it will be in DC since I haven’t been in some time), click through for videos of some of the plenary sessions from the conference, including Valerie Jarrett, Senior Policy Advisor to President Obama; Monica Ramirez, Women and Public Policy Fellow of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda; and Jackson Katz:
In case you missed it, NIJ released a pretty terrific multimedia site dedicated to the issue of DNA testing, the sexual assault kit backlog, the multidisciplinary response, and a host of interrelated issue. You’ll find some videos (with several familiar faces), case studies, and lots of resources. It’s definitely worth spending some time working your way through it. Enough data to satisfy the nerdy, but plenty for practitioners, I think NIJ has done a good job with this one.
You may have noticed I took some time away from the site last week. I don’t usually disappear like that, but looming deadlines coupled with some time away to celebrate my dad’s accomplishments in the 216 meant that this site got a bit neglected. Frankly I needed the space, so it was good to have it. But now I’m back in the office, refreshed and ready to face the week. It includes the holiest day in my year; an interesting talk Wednesday morning here in town (I’ll be speaking about social media use); and the march toward wrapping up my time with the Army. Hard to believe this year is coming to an end (and how much work we’ve accomplished–if you’re curious we’ll be presenting about it in Orlando). In the meantime, I spent most of my weekend pretty unplugged, although I managed to get a bit of reading done. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:
It’s time once again for Articles of Note, your monthly guide to what’s new in the peer-reviewed literature. Keep in mind that this isn’t an exhaustive list, just what’s caught my attention and feels particularly relevant (at least to the work I do). As always, there’s so much more out there, so spend some time on PubMed or Google Scholar if you can (or better yet–at your local medical library). This should at least get you started. Some interesting work on elder abuse in particular this month, although the articles run the gamut of much of the violence we see in our practices. Click through for the sharable PDF and the Word doc with active hyperlinks:
I’m at Maxwell AFB today for a quick lecture before heading back to DC. It was a reserve weekend for Sasha, which meant a work weekend for me (when I wasn’t traveling), so not much in the way of downtime. But when I was in need of some distraction, the interwebs provided plenty of fodder. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:
Last month I posted about the JAMA article on rethinking serial perpetration in campus sexual assault; NSVRC has published a document for the field that distills the research from that article into its critical components, authored in part by several authors of the original JAMA article. Key Findings: Rethinking Serial Perpetration (PDF) is available for download, and should be added to your (undoubtedly growing) reading list. Yet another item to pass along to members of your multidisciplinary team.
I’m taking the holiday off (it’s Labor Day in the US), so no Since Last We Spoke this week. Instead I leave you with a new publication from the Population Reference Bureau, Intimate Partner Violence and Family Planning: Opportunities for Action (PDF). This is one of those publications that’s as rich for its references as its text (many of them should be available free full-text), so follow the endnotes and see where those take you. Click through for a summary of the publication:
Categories
Since Last We Spoke, 8-31-15
I can hardly wrap my brain around the fact that it’s the last day of August, and save for a quick jaunt to Miami with my spouse coming up, this year really has been non-stop. That’s not really like us. Travel has always been important, but this year has made it tough to schedule, what with our respective new gigs. I’m looking forward to having more control over my calendar (December), but I am not complaining, and feel immensely grateful for even the briefest opportunity to get away. I spent a lot of time planning the upcoming trip, but there were some other things that caught my eye, as well. Here’s what I was checking out since last we spoke:
After a terrific course in San Antonio last week it’s good to get back to the office and get my in-box in order, attempt to get a handle on new projects, and geek out on data waiting for review. It was an unusually social weekend for me (once I made it back from Texas, that is), so it wasn’t until later Sunday evening that I even found time to catch up on what was circulating on the interwebs. Here’s what caught my eye since last we spoke:
Busy day today, so I leave you with Jimmy Carter’s TED Talk on why he believes that the mistreatment of women is the number one human rights abuse. It ranges around a bit, but I appreciate the message from this man, of his particular generation, steeped in religion as he is, in his position of great privilege. It’s especially poignant in the face of the recent announcement of his metastatic liver cancer; this man’s legacy is profound. While we could debate the quality of his presidency, his leadership since his presidency and the good work he has accomplished is undeniable. I hope you enjoy his talk:
I’m at Ft Sam Houston this week, so it’ll be a long one for me. I’ll be packing a lot into my time on the road, but I’ll try and keep posts pretty regular. It felt like there was a lot of interesting stuff to read this weekend, and I spent my flight perusing articles I’d set aside–they pretty much carried me through my 3 hours of travel. I’m certain my nosy seatmate was delighted/horrified at my reading choices (more reason for not working on planes). Click through to see what caught my eye since last we spoke:
Wow, there is a lot to read in the journals right now. If you do any kind of work in the area of interpersonal violence, it’s like Christmas (or I suppose purgatory, if you do not love the idea of curling up with a stack of journal articles–take your pic). I’m especially tickled to see some less common topics in the literature (oral injury post-assault, adult caregivers of former abusers), and publications by regular FHO readers (congrats, Dr. Berg Raunick!). Click through for the Word doc with active links and downloadable PDF for sharing (with attribution, please–lots of work goes into compiling these monthly overviews, so give credit and preserve your karma):
Several folks have posted this video from the UK on the neurobiology of trauma that I thought would be of interest to FHO readers. While there are a few things in it that differ from how we discuss the issues in the US, overall, it’s a well-done video that could be useful as a teaching tool on this topic (and they give permission to use it for just such a purpose, which is helpful). Click through to view:
August is such an odd month, full of transition. Getting the kid back to school, thinking about my own transition as I begin wrapping up this gig (what’s next? being my very favorite question, and a seriously legit one for me right now), making some decisions about how and where I want to spend my time and resources. Plus the wife is in her own fancy-pants new job, so we’ve got a new routine to get used to around our house. Never boring. We laid pretty low this weekend: took care of our people, fed some folks, perused the interwebs, the usual. Here’s what I was checking out since last we spoke:
A reader sent me a question about using the copper IUD as an emergency contraceptive (PDF) option for sexual assault patients. While I think Plan B and Ella are the more appropriate option for EC in most circumstances, I wouldn’t rule out using IUDs, and I certainly think we should be discussing its use as part of baseline clinician education.
How is it August already? Hard to believe my sweet kid heads back to (high) school in less than 2 weeks and the summer is winding down. It was pretty quiet around DC this weekend, and I spent a bit of time playing catch up. There’s still more to read, but here’s what caught my eye thus far, since last we spoke:
I teach thermal injuries as a part of IPV training–It’s often not part of basic injury assessment and documentation education for forensic nurses for some reason, but it’s a not uncommon mechanism of injury in domestic violence (and in child and elder abuse). We probably should be spending more time on the issue, so if you haven’t had much related to thermal injuries, here’s a possible idea for a CE program.
Categories
Since Last We Spoke, 7-27-15
Oh, to be home for 3 full weeks! Just in time to celebrate the girl child’s 14th birthday, the spouse’s new job (hello, DOJ!), and just generally immerse myself with some quality time amongst my people. Luxury! I have an additional 14 year old in my house this week, making things a bit more chaotic than usual, so the interwebs have provided some welcome respite. Here’s what’s caught my eye since last we spoke: