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I think about body language a lot–particularly when I’m in court. I am always very aware of my posture and position when I am sitting listening to testimony and certainly when I am on the stand. There’s no question body language influences how people see you and assumptions that are subsequently made. But I hadn’t really considered how body language impacts our own self-concept.

OVC TTAC has a curriculum now available for supporting crime victims with disabilities. It’s a 3-day training that includes both an instructor and participant manual, PPT slides and worksheets/activities, all free of charge. Click through for a description of the course.

One year ago today Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed. For my family, that has had an enormous impact. All for the good…

Today is the 18th anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act:

Statement by the Vice President on the Eighteenth Anniversary of the Violence Against Women Act

Eighteen years ago today, the landmark Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was signed into law. It was founded on the basic premise that every woman deserves to be safe from violence, and since its passage, we have made tremendous strides towards achieving that goal. We gave law enforcement and the courts more tools to combat domestic violence and hold offenders accountable. We created a national hotline to direct victims to life-saving assistance. And since VAWA passed, annual rates of domestic violence have dropped by more than 60 percent.

But we still have much work to do. Three women still die every day as a result of domestic violence. One in five women have been raped, many as teenagers, and one in six women have been victims of stalking. While women and girls face these devastating realities every day, reauthorization of a strengthened VAWA languishes in Congress. VAWA is just as important today as it was when it first became law, and I urge Congress to keep the promise we made to our daughters and our granddaughters on that day—that we would work together to keep them safe.

My general experience is that people are lousy at dealing with conflict directly. I was reminded of this relatively recently, as many of you may recall. So I couldn’t be happier with the fact that IAFN is offering a webinar, Ethical Communication–Making it Work. It will be held October 2nd from 2-3:15 pm ET. Cost is $15/members ($30 non-members) and will net you 1 CEU.

For my colleagues in corrections: the National Institute of Corrections has a new web page dedicated to LGBTQI youth in the justice system. You can also find an archived webinar on Gender Identity Disorder here (upper right corner).

I often harp on how much I value Twitter as a tool for both education and social commentary, so I figured I would share my list of 10 organizations and individuals forensic healthcare professionals should consider following. Remember, this is just my list–I would love to hear who else you think is a good follow for our profession. My goal, of course is to move more forensic healthcare professionals into the Twittersphere. I like to think of this list as a great foundation for building your own Twitter stream.

The Stalking Resource Center has an online course available: The Use of Technology to Stalk. From the site:

Cell phones. GPS. Computers. Did you know that these technologies can be dangerous weapons in a stalker’s arsenal? This self-paced, interactive course will give you a better understanding of how stalkers use these and other technologies to locate, harass, and surveil their victims. You will also identify steps to assist in investigating stalking crimes and supporting victims of stalking.

I feel like a bit of a broken record, but there’s yet another available resource on EC. This comes from K4Health (which is a USAID site) and it’s a pretty comprehensive (and globally-minded) toolkit. Certainly worth checking out.

The World Health Organization has a new fact sheet on emergency contraception available on their site. It covers both pills and IUDs.

We have several new things posted in the Canada section for you to check out. Also, FHO has amassed a fair number of Australian readers–outside North America, it’s where I’m most likely to see new subscribers. If there are any Australians who would like to a.) see an Australia-specific section; and b.) want to be responsible for sending me materials to keep that section updated I would be happy to add it.

Harvard Medical School has an online CME course available: Mental Health Sequelae of Extreme Violence. Physicians will earn 2 AMA PRA Category 1 CMEs, but others can earn a certificate of participation. See the website for complete details.

(BTW, there’s also one on the ABCs of Disaster Medicine— a bit more $, but it looks like a great course.)

As some of you know, my mother died on Friday. FHO will be dark this week (as will my Twitter stream) so that I am able to spend a little extra time with my people. For those of you who have talked with me about lit reviews and other materials, thanks for your patience. I’ll be back in full swing next week.

In my twitter feed today, I found this quote by Margaret Heffernan, speaking at TEDxGlobal: “Collaboration requires thinking partners that aren’t echo chambers”. Brilliant. I love this notion; it speaks to something I believe wholeheartedly (and discuss with groups all the time): the importance of conflict in healthy, sustainable teams.

First off, apologies for my absence yesterday. Migraines have been getting the best of me on and off for the past week, and yesterday I finally just surrendered. But I’m back today, and because I’m a giant nerd, there’s a new clinical guide for you on evaluating research. For anyone who’s ever heard me speak on the issue of providing ethical and effective court testimony, one of the main topics of discussion is always about being able to support your opinions with credible scientific information. That, of course, leads into a discussion of how you actually do that. Fortunately, many smart people have addressed this topic. Click through for a listing of full-text articles and web resources divided into 4 sections: general information, internet sources, healthcare research and violence research:

Please contact me if you’d like the word doc of this clinical guide:

EVALUATING RESEARCH

General:

NEW: How can you tell if scientific evidence is strong or weak? (vox.com)

NEW: Predatory Publishing (FHO)

Evaluating Research Quality [PDF] (T. Litman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute)

Evaluating Introductions and Literature Reviews [PDF](F. Pyrczak, via Indiana University)

Interpreting Research Studies [PDF] (Guttmacher Institute)

Who’s Afraid of Peer Review? (J. Bohannon, Science)

How to Read a Research Article [PDF] (R. Dunafon via Cornell University)

A Rough Guide to Spotting Bad Science (A brilliant infographic from Compound Interest)

Internet Sources:

Evaluating Information Found on the Internet: Distinguishing Propaganda and Misinformation (Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Libraries)

Evaluating Internet Research Sources (R. Harris)

Healthcare Research:

A Simple Method for Evaluating the Clinical Literature (R. Flaherty, Family Practice Management)

Checklist for the qualitative evaluation of clinical studies with particular focus on external validity and model validity [PDF](G. Bornh, BMC Medical Research Methodology)

Critique Process [PDF](C. Boswell & S. Cannon, via Jones and Bartlett Publishers)

Evaluating the Literature (T. Gaeta, Medscape)

Finding the research for evidence-based practice – Part two: Selecting credible evidence (J. Fitzpatrick, Nursing Times)

User’s Guide to the Nursing Research: An Introduction (N. Cullum, Evidence Based Nursing)

Glossary of Evidence-Based Medicine Terms (Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine)

Violence Research:

Evaluating Violence Against Women Research Reports (S. Beeman, VAWnet)

Reading, Understanding and Evaluating Research: Glossary of Research Terms [PDF] (NSVRC)

Understanding Evidence: Pt. I Best Available Research Evidence (CDC)

{See also: Guide to Literature Searches and our previous post on understanding and evaluating the literature}

I’m profoundly sad about the news out of Aurora today. Denver was my home for 6 years while I was in graduate school and I still have many friends there. This is the 2nd mass shooting in the area since I left. Please let it be the last. And please let us be able to come together to have meaningful conversations about how to prevent these types of senseless tragedies.

My prayers are with the victims, their families and loved ones.

The US Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women’s Health is offering a webinar, Workplace Stress and Trauma Informed Care. The session will take place July 30th at 2pm CT. Dr. Sandra Bloom will be the featured speaker. It’s part of the ongoing series, The Impact of Trauma on Women and Girls Across the Lifespan. Previous archived sessions can be found here (scroll down).

I’ve featured Ed Gavagan on this site before, but this time, I have a video of his talk about survival, filmed here in DC at the 2012 TEDMED gathering.

The last minute is really something.